Forever Mine
by CityO
Summary: Cadence is a new vampire and has been living in Alaska with the Denali Clan, only now she's just moved to Forks with the Cullens. She'll be going to high school, so being the only Cullen at Forks High should prove to be problematic. Right?
1. Chapter 1

**NOTE ::** I do not claim to be an amazing writer, just that I enjoy it. Please feel free to leave comments and reviews as long as they are kind and/or constructive! I do love to hear what you think!

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**Forever Mine - Chapter 1**

I stepped out of the silver Volvo into the driveway of the Cullen's house. The moonlight shown down through the trees and I could see the stars in the night's sky. I sighed as I thought about the family that I had left behind and the new family that I was joining. Everything had gotten so complicated and I wondered how I had gotten to this point.

Edward breathed loudly to let me know he was listening to my thoughts and I shot him a weary glance. "They're still you're family, Cadence!" he started. "Where you live won't change that!"

_I know_, I thought lazily. I didn't feel like talking aloud at the moment. _It's just hard to live with them. I know she's like my mother but there's no one there my own age that I can relate to. Living there is just too hard for me._

I was referring to Tanya and the rest of the Denali clan. It was Tanya who had turned me into a vampire five years ago, shortly after Renesmee was born and Bella had been changed. My last night as a human was always a touchy subject for me, and living in my home town where I had also been changed was even more unbearably difficult. I don't think I'll ever get that night out of my mind, no matter how foggy it may seem compared to my now precise vampire memories.

It was senior year in high school and my best friend, Sarah, wanted so desperately to become one of the popular girls. The football quarterback was throwing a huge party at his house, and of course Sarah wanted to go. "We can get the year started off right!" she claimed the entire week, and I swear I never wanted to hear that sentence again.

"Come on Cadence! I swear I will never understand why in the world you don't wanna go!" she started on yet another one of her tirades. We were in my room after school on Friday, the day of the party. I sat at my white vanity and brushed my burgundy hair while Sarah was pacing the floor behind me. "This is high school," she went on. "Senior year to be exact, and I want to be popular! I can't go by myself cause then I will just look pathetic and I'll never get popular that way. The party is tonight, and besides, Michael is going to be there and I really need you with me for moral support if I'm ever going to get up the courage to talk to him," she went on and on and started speaking faster and faster. I didn't know if she was even breathing in those long sentences and honestly, I was beginning to have a hard time keeping up with her.

"Fine!" I finally exclaimed, tired of listening to her. "I'll go with you, if that will shut you up!"

Sarah was so giddy with excitement that she was jumping up and down and squealing. Parties were definitely not my thing, but I decided that I could try to keep her out of trouble, to make sure she didn't do anything she might regret. I now know that was futile. Sarah had her own agendas, and even though I was always able to read people well, I swear I never saw it coming. I couldn't believe how differently Sarah had acted, how hard she tried to fit in with people that weren't even her friends. Sarah was doing things that I was definitely against and I wanted nothing more to do with. Sarah had ditched me at the party and I searched desperately to find her. Pushing through the crowd I looked and looked for her, she wasn't hard to spot once you saw her bright platinum blonde hair. It was so blonde that it looked white even though she had never once dyed it in all of her life, but there were so many people there that I couldn't find her. After having searched the entire house I decided to go outside to the backyard and there she was with a small crowd of people, maybe 5 or 6. I didn't remember anymore since I never really paid that close attention to everyone else. "Drink! Drink! Drink!" I could hear them chanting loudly. There was Sarah, standing among them… and chugging a beer? She never drank, so why had she started?

"What are you doing?" I shouted at her as everyone turned their heads to look at me with surprise. I stormed over to her and snatched the bottle out of her hand so quickly that it sprayed the crowd of onlookers, including myself. They all exclaimed something in protest but I didn't hear them, my eyes were fixed on Sarah. "Drinking? Really?" I started. "What are you thinking? You don't have to do this to fit in, they should like you for who you are!" This was probably the norm for our friendship, I had to act as the mother and of course she never listened.

"You're embarrassing me Cadence," she cried out in protest through clenched teeth. "If you were really my friend then you would understand." Those were the last words we ever exchanged.

Now this was where I often wished I had done things differently. I stormed out of the house, which happened to be a single house on a bare rural road for a few miles. It was dark out by now, and my house was only 3 miles away. Sarah had driven us to the party and she of course still had the keys. "Great!" I thought to myself. I didn't want my parents to know where I was and what was going on, so I started walking. Looking back on that decision now, I probably should have called my parents to come and get me, beer smelling clothes or not.

The winding road was eerily and only continued to get darker as I continued up and down hills through twists and turns along the side of the very narrow two lane asphalt. I had walked about one mile when I started to see a light illuminate my shadow ahead of me. I turned around to see the light turn into two headlights swerving from side to side. Before I ever had a chance to move out of the way, I was hit.

I didn't remember much after that until I awoke with Tanya. She tried to fill me in with as little detail as possible, but even she didn't like to think about it. Tanya was hunting with her sister, Kate, when they caught the scent of my blood on the road. Kate wanted to savor it, though that was not something they did since they were vegetarians of sorts. Tanya and Kate are part of the Denali Clan, and they are vampires. They like to think of themselves as vegetarians because they made the lifestyle choice to drink the blood of animals instead of humans. The only other Clan that is vegetarian are the Cullens, my new family.

"Let's just leave her before I drink every drop," Kate had protested.

"I can't," Tonya hissed back in her sing song voice. Even as I was lying there dying I could hear the beautiful playing of bells and chimes as they spoke. "We have to take her home," Tonya continued.

Tonya told me nothing more but I knew what happened next, those were my clear memories taking form. I remember the agonizing pain as I lay in a room, my skin burning for what seemed like an eternity. The minutes passed like hours and the hours passed like days. I didn't physically burn, but as my human body died while I transformed into that of a vampire. Every crevice of my being felt as if it were being engulfed in unmerciful flames. I shuttered at the thought as Edward stood staring into the sky. His eyes were squinting and I realized he too was watching my memories as I relived them. "Hey!" I proclaimed as I caught his blank stare. "Don't do that!" I hissed at him.

"Sorry. I can't turn it off like you can," he claimed with a sheepish grin.

Edward was speaking of my power. I often forgot that his ability to read minds was much different than my own. It took Aleazar some time to figure out what I could do, and even then he had to explain it to me. I thought I was going crazy when I could hear people speaking only to find out they had said nothing at all. It was even crazier when I only heard those thoughts some of the times and not others. Confusion struck when I realized that I had less control over it during heightened emotions, like anger or intense sadness, or some equivalent. Like Edward, I could read minds, but unlike Edward I could listen to one person at a time when I chose to do so. I liked to describe it as tuning into a radio station and being able to turn that radio off when I had enough. "Oh right," I said quickly.

We began to walk up the stairs to the Cullen's house after I pulled my one Louis Vuitton bag of luggage out of the car, a prop. I had flown in to Seattle from Alaska in an effort to appear human for any locals that may have seen. Keeping up appearances of some form of human life were vital when it came to living among them.

"Why haven't you moved from Forks yet? Isn't it getting to be about that time?" I asked him as I looked up at the familiar white house. I had been here a few times before.

"It is, but Bella doesn't want to leave Charlie, and Renesmee can't leave Jacob behind," Edward informed me. "We just try to stay close to home. Even Carlisle has stopped going to the hospital. He's taken a research position and started working from home so no one suspects anything."

Enthusiasm set in as I thought about what he just said, staying close to home. "Does that mean I don't have to go to school?" I asked as a grin spread wide across my face. I was dreading going to yet another high school, let alone one in such a small town.

"Um, I believe that is something you will have to discuss with Carlisle," he smirked at the thought. I knew as well as he did that Carlisle would insist that I go to school, and I didn't have to read his mind to know that. I bet Carlisle had already told several local humans that he was adopting yet another foster child into his growing family. At this point it would look too suspicious if I didn't go to school.

My enthusiasm quickly faded as I followed Edward up the stairs. Before we even reached the porch the door had swung open, drowning us in light from inside. "Cadence!" Esme called out with her arms outstretched. I wondered how long she had been standing behind the front door waiting for us to approach and glared at Edward. I wish he would have warned me. She grabbed me up in a fraction of a second and hugged me before I could protest. "It's so nice to see you again dear. I'm so happy you've come to stay with us!"

"Me too," I chimed in. I didn't want to hurt her feelings. _You better not say a word_, I thought for Edward's sake. I walked a few steps into the white living room of the Cullen's house. Nothing had changed since the last time I had been there, or since ever I realized. Everything sat in its place, never moving, like a museum.

"So why are you here," someone claimed, and I knew immediately that it was Rosalie. It wasn't so much the sound of her voice that gave it away, it was just Rosalie's way.

"Well you know I just love seeing you!" I proclaimed with as much sarcasm as I could muster, flashing her my devilish grin. She didn't like me much, but then again, who did Rosalie like. "But seriously, I had to get out of my home town. I'm tired of being cooped up in the house making sure I don't get spotted by anyone I knew," I sighed.

Rosalie snorted as she crossed her arms and stormed out of the room.

"I love you too Rosalie," I said in a normal tone but I knew she could hear me. I listened in on her thoughts for a moment to see if she would respond. _Yeah yeah_, she chimed internally. I was surprised by the tone in which the words came across. They weren't patronizing like I would have expected from her, but instead it was more lighthearted. I briefly saw that she saw me as a little sister, an addition to her family. Her hatred was all an act for the others. I looked at Edward as he was smiling back at me. _She really does like you_, he thought.

At that moment I noticed that Emmett and Jasper had been sitting on the couch with Alice standing close by. Emmett got up and ran over to me in one swift vampire movement as he seized me in one of his enormous bear hugs. "E-Emmett," I managed to squeeze out. "I'm... not a... newborn…. anymore." He was surely going to break a rib if he squeezed even an ounce tighter.

"Oh right," Emmett quickly put me down again, ruffling my long burgundy hair.

"It's nice to see you to," I smiled at him as I tried to straighten my hair back out, and my clothes. Luckily I wasn't wearing my good shirt. He surely would have wrinkled my silk charmeuse.

I noticed I was still clutching my bag by one hand, so I sat it down and stepped around Emmett, running over to Alice who was still standing by the couch. "Alice," I sang as I hugged her. "Hi Jasper," I said as I glanced down at him, still sitting on the couch and he smiled back. He was watching some football game on the TV and I had to wonder if it he was really interested in it, but I didn't really care so much. "Wanna go shopping tomorrow Alice?" I quickly added.

"Of course," she said in a thrilling voice as she still held on to me. "You know I always do. You are the only one who actually likes to go shopping with me."

"Ahem," Carlisle broke into our excitement. He had appeared next to Esme and I now realized that he had just arrived to our little gathering, He must have been working in his office when we got here. "Tomorrow is Monday and you have to go to school Cadence. You know you need to keep up appearances, and since you're only 17 I have enrolled you at Forks High."

"School? Come on. No one else here is going to school anymore, so why should I? I'm forever 17 and I can easily pass as the same age as Edward! What's another year or two?" I protested.

"Actually," Carlisle started hesitantly. "I didn't tell them you were 17. I told them you were 15 and enrolled you as a freshman."

"WHAT!? But-," I started, but was stopped by Alice. She had gripped my arm and the blank stare into nothingness always gave away that she was having a vision. "It's no use," she started after a moment, blinking as her eyes came into focus. "You're going to school. But we can go shopping next weekend."

"Sure," I said in disappointment. I was dreading going to school. Forks High, how mundane. I was a vampire for crying out loud. Edward and I were both perfectly frozen in time at the serene age of 17, yet he was seen as a 23 year old to these locals and I would have to be 15. How unfair.

_You can take my Aston Martin if you like_, Edward chimed into my thoughts. His unspoken words startled me. I hadn't realized I had let go of my grip on my power. I looked at him. _You know you can give me a little warning when you know that I'm listening unwillingly. Besides,_ _I don't think a 15 year old driving an Aston Martin is keeping up appearances_, I thought sarcastically. _But you can drive me,_ I finished**_._**

"So where's my room?" I asked, turning my gaze back at Esme. "I guess I want to unpack."

"You're in Edward's old room," she smiled through her pearly white teeth. "He hasn't much use for it since he and Bella stay in the cottage." She gestured toward the back of the house, out toward the cottage I had guessed. I had never seen it though I heard it was beautiful with the best closet space. That was Alice's doing, and she was so proud of her work that she spoke of it often.

"Speaking of which, I need to be getting back to Bella and Renesmee," Edward stated. "They'll be glad to see you tomorrow. Renesmee has been very excited that you were coming. I'll be back in the morning to take you to school."

"I'll be waiting," I said leisurely.

Edward headed out the door as I grabbed my bag and headed upstairs. I found his room quickly, as it was my favorite in the entire house. The large windows on the far wall had the best glow at night. I was able to fully enjoy it since I did not sleep, ever. I'm sure Edward had probably told Esme I liked it best, but I tried not to think about it. The thought of the time and effort they put into this move and made me feel warm and uneasy at the same time. I unpacked my few clothes I had shoved into my "prop" and pulled out a small red velvet drawstring bag. The bag was woven in jacquard with red lace trimming at the top and a gold rope that pulled it shut. I opened it to find my silver antique brush and mirror set inside. Well, it was antique to me, considering that I wasn't born yet, but Tonya had collected it on her travels during her young vampire years. It used to sit in Tonya's room, on her golden vanity, and I loved to sit there and peer at my porcelain reflection as I brushed my locks. It reminded me very much of sitting at my own vanity as a normal human girl. When I had decided to leave Alaska, she wanted to give me something to show her love for me. It was kind of silly considering I would see her again in my eternal life span. She saw me more as a daughter, not a sister like Irina or Kate, and in a way I saw her as my mother as well. Even though we had only been together for five years now, I felt a strong connection to her. She had explained this to be a part of my vampire emotions, and our bond since she was the one who had turned me.

I sat on the black leather sofa that belonged to Edward but still sat in the room. It was even more comfortable than I had remembered. I began to brush my dark burgundy hair as I thought about the coming day. I would definitely have to get a new vanity when I went shopping with Alice.

School, oh man. How was I going do this? At least the rest of the Cullen's had each other when they went to school. How would all of the students see me now that the rest of the Cullen's had graduated? I know it was years ago and the students wouldn't be the same, but they know who the Cullen's are. They'll be intimidated no doubt, with my perfection and beauty. I know I will be treated as an outsider, much as they were, but the only difference is that I will be alone. I breathed heavily, not that I needed to. I guess I will find out soon enough.


	2. Chapter 2

**NOTE ::** I do not claim to be an amazing writer, just that I enjoy it. Please feel free to leave comments and reviews as long as they are kind and/or constructive! I do love to hear what you think!

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**Forever Mine - Chapter 2**

I stepped out of the passenger seat of Edward's Aston Martin Vanquish onto the sidewalk of Forks High and closed the door behind me. It was November and the air was even more chilling than usual, at least this is what the TV had said on the morning news. I often had to watch the news to dress accordingly since I didn't necessarily feel the weather like humans. I began to pull my fitted black pea coat closed and slung my large Louis Vuitton bag over my arm. This morning I had put on a more simplistic ensemble in an effort to fit in. No one walked around in expensive designer clothes in Forks, I had decided, so I threw on a grey knit pullover and a pair of old faded jeans. I was sure I wouldn't stand out in them, even if they were Juicy Couture, but now I'm not so sure it would have mattered what I would have put on. I decided to listen in on the students since I always liked knowing what new people around me were thinking. _I'll be here to pick you up after school_, Edward thought as he knew I was listening now.

_Sure,_ I thought back and started towards the office.

I couldn't help but notice all of the stares in my direction as I made my way through the cold and dreary lot.

_Oh my goodness is she a Cullen? I could have sworn that was Edward dropping her off!_

_Wow, she is beautiful man!_

_Who is she? I don't like her already!_

_Freaky eyes!_

The thoughts of the students surrounding me continued in this manner and I didn't know how much more I could take, so I picked and chose which to tune out immediately. I loved being able to do that and was grateful for it now. Even though I was only able to listen to one person at a time, I decided that those were people I didn't want to listen to. I opened the door to the front office and walked into the tiny area where the receptionist stood behind her desk organizing papers. Mrs. Cope no doubt I had guessed, as Edward had told me much about this school. Of course she didn't hear me enter, like every human she couldn't hear well enough for my light footsteps.

"Hello, I'm Cadence Cullen!?" I said to her finally. Jumping, she looked up startled and gasped. Blush claimed her cheeks and I had to hold my faking breath as my throat started to tingle with the burning sensation that blood gave my kind. I managed to keep my composure which had gotten easier for me after five years. The first newborn year was the worst, something I had no desire to relive, but for some reason I had found it easier to be around humans as time went on. It was much faster than most I was told, not Bella of course, but fast enough. I still found it difficult to be around blood, blushing cheeks included, and tried my best to stay away from the more threatening amounts.

_Oh my goodness, where did she come from?_ She thought. _Oh well, of course she's a Cullen, look at how beautiful she is. Just like the rest of them. Does that doctor only adopt the beautiful ones or what?_ Finally she spoke. "Well, yes. I've been expecting you. Here is your schedule and a map to the school. If you need any help please feel free to ask. Here are some permission slips, have your teachers sign them and bring them back to me at the end of the day!" she continued pleasantly as she handed me the papers.

"Um, thank you!" I said as I stuffed them in my purse and quickly headed out the door. I would not carry a backpack, how unfashionable was that? It was the one human thing I vowed I would never do again. I carried a backpack my entire human life, and though I might look 17 or 15 or whatever, I wasn't. Now that I have the money I decided I would live how I wanted, within reason of course. I didn't drive a luxury car like the rest of the Cullens, but I supposed that could have been changed as well.

English class was first on my schedule and I dreaded every minute of it. The thoughts of everyone continued much in the same manner as they had this morning. Students were jealous and many of them started to become insecure when they saw me. The monster within me raged and tore at my throat as I sat unwavering in my seat. No one would know my personal inner demon that reared its ugly head with every breath. It was sort of hard to ignore the scent of so many students, so I did what I usually did and held my breath and faked the chest movements. I had been doing the vegetarian thing for some time, but it hadn't always been that way. That was treading on the territory that I didn't wish to relive. I decided to tune everyone out mentally as I tried to gather my thoughts and listened with my ears as the teacher taught some useless mess about the fundamentals of literature and went over the next book we would be reading. I doodled in my notebook, as I did most every other day I've ever been in High School. I know I was only 17, technically, but I had finished High School at home with Tonya. I started taking home school classes and was entirely caught up. Not to mention this was 9th grade and I had already done this with flying colors. I was a good student as a human.

The bell rang and I was out of my seat and in the hall in no time. Oh crap, I probably had went a little too fast but it was too late to think about that now. I slowed my pace as I walked to my next class, out of sight of the gaping students making their way out of the English classroom behind me. Government was next. Great! I headed in to the class and smiled at the teacher. He nearly toppled over from the surprise of my glowing teeth and I snickered, as did the rest of the students when they walked in behind me. "Sorry, did I startle you?" I said slowly in my best sing song voice, but it was plain to see. "I'm Cadence Cullen. I'm new."

"Yes, Ms. Cullen. I got my new attendance sheet today. I've been expecting you," he said at once as I handed him my slip to sign. He straightened himself up as best as he could, continuing to glance in my direction, and I didn't want to know what he was thinking. "You can take a seat anywhere," he claimed and motioned to the desks as he handed back my slip.

I saw an empty seat near the back and smirked as I walked through the narrow rows. I took my place next to a lanky boy with sandy brown hair and large black glasses. He mostly kept his head down while his hair flopped over onto the brim of his glasses, so I tried not to look at him. I could tell he was uncomfortable. He looked a bit old to be in a freshman class, but I thought nothing of it. I'm sure I didn't look like your typical freshman either. _Oh my goodness, she's sitting next to me. I should say something, but what would I say to such a beautiful girl?_ I looked up sharply at the students surrounding me. No one was looking at me, and I could have sworn no one had spoken a word. Did I listen to someone's thoughts, or had I lost my grip on my power? No, I made sure to tune everyone out as they were all thinking the same things, and I could feel my grip on control just fine. _Please don't look at me, I don't know what I would do._ The voice continued on and I was not prepared as it hit me like a ton of bricks. I nearly fell out of my seat as if they had a weight that forced me down. I tried with all my might to tune it out, but to no prevail. What was happening to me? Focus, focus, I thought. The voice continued to go on and I had no idea what to do. I looked around to see if someone's mannerisms gave them away, but everyone seemed to be focused intently on the lesson. And then I noticed him. The sandy brown haired boy sitting next to me, it had to be him. He was fidgeting nervously, tousling his hair between his fingers and glancing in my direction every few moments when he thought I didn't see. How had I not noticed him before? He had a unique look about him, he was certainly handsome but I don't think anyone could really notice with those large glasses. His large glasses hid most of his face. _Oh no, she's looking at me! Why is she looking at me like that?_ His thoughts became louder as he grew more uncomfortable. It was definitely him.

I gripped my head between my hands as if I had a headache and tried ever so hard to drive the thoughts away, but it was no use. They continued on, no matter how hard I tried to silence them. So this was how Edward must have felt all the time. Jeez, I thought. _What's wrong with her? Did I do something? Oh no._ He continued on as he buried his head in his arms and rested them on his desk. Why did I not have control over his thoughts? I looked up at him, dazed. So that was how it was going to be. I supposed I should try to figure out why it was happening to me, why his thoughts were so open to me.

I leaned in toward him and whispered loud enough for him to hear me. "Hi," I said softly in the nicest voice I could muster, even I could hear the twinkling bells, but the poor boy still jumped out of his seat nearly toppling his desk over. The entire class turned to look at him but I sat up quickly acting as if I had nothing to do with it. It might have been a bad move but I didn't want the eyes on me or the whispers to start.

He stared at me with bewildered eyes. _Did she just talk to me or was I dreaming that? No one ever talks to me_, he thought. I glanced back over to him, making sure no one was looking and batted my eyes for a moment, trying to appear less daunting. I quickly realized I probably shouldn't have done that as the boy's face began to turn the brightest shade of red I had ever seen. The monster roared inside of me and I cupped my hand over my face to block the sweet aroma of his blood from flooding my nostrils even more. The poor boy's heart was beating uncontrollably and I thought he might have a heart attack. The soft glug, glug of his beating heart pushing the blood through his body was mind numbing. I quickly had to shake my head to push the sounds away. This boy had become a challenge. I peered back at him over my fingers to find that he had looked back down at his papers, trying feverishly to straighten himself. "Hi," I started again. "I'm Cadence." I looked at him, waiting for his name.

_She did talk to me, oh my goodness, what do I say?_ He thought again and I had to fight off a laugh.

"What's your name?" I coaxed him. It seemed like he needed the help. I hated to say it, but it appeared as though humans often forgot the simplest things like their names when looking into the eyes of a vampire. Bella liked to call it Dazzling, and I enjoyed the term.

"Christian," he said quickly. "Christian Foster."

"Well Christian, Christian Foster," I whispered with a slight giggle. "It's nice to meet you."

The poor boys face turned red again and I cupped my hand over my mouth as the monster clawed at my throat. I chuckled again over the pain and tried to focus on the teacher once more. "Can you tell the rest of the class what is so funny Ms. Cullen?" the teacher broke into my personal joke.

"Nothing, sir!" I said in a high sing song voice, except that this boy keeps blushing ever so brightly and smells so delicious, I thought to myself. I flashed the teacher my pearly whites and he said nothing more. He blinked profusely and went on about the Bill of Rights and their importance in our society.

Finally as class dragged on and I thought I couldn't take the ongoing pessimism of this poor, lanky Christian Foster anymore, the bell rang and I got up slowly from my seat. Christian continued to gather his things clumsily as he dropped his pencil and it rolled to my feet. I picked it up to hand it to him and he stared at me in confusion. It had fresh ridges all along the sides and looked like teeth marks. He must have been chewing on his pencil from his discomfort and unease, or maybe just nerves. _Oh god she is beautiful. I hadn't noticed her gorgeous golden eyes before,_ Christian went on. I rolled those gorgeous golden eyes.

"It was nice meeting you, Christian Foster," I said hesitantly as I stretched my arm out to hand him his pencil. I didn't want to give this poor boy a heart attack, though it might not be helped.

Christian stood ever so still as the blush claimed his face once more, continuing to stare into my eyes. Finally I could see passed the glare of his large framed glasses and noticed that his eyes were a nice shade of light green as the light from the windows hit them just right. It reminded me much of the moss covered trees here in the forests. "Ahem," I coughed out as I pushed the pencil forward some more. I held it by the tip of the eraser in an effort to keep my hand away from his. I didn't want him to touch my cold, dead fingers and get shocked by the slight electric charge.

"Th-Thank you!" he stuttered, taking the pencil from my hands. I retreated quickly and walked out of the door. Once outside I allowed the cold air to fill my lungs completely. It felt good to be free of his sweet smell since he kept blushing during the entire class.

My next class was geometry and it went much like it did in English. I avoided the thoughts of everyone around me as they considered how beautiful I was or maybe that there was something really wrong with me. Some humans had a great sense for danger but often didn't recognize it, especially when it was disguised so well. I couldn't help but to think of Christian though. The way his brown hair flopped over onto the brim of his glasses. It made me giggle to myself and I could feel this unfamiliar warmth grow within me. Why did I feel this way when I recalled our moments in class? Maybe because I couldn't seem to lock him out. There was definitely something different about that boy and I had to find out what it was. Or maybe I would have to try to change his outlook on life. His constant pessimism would surely bring me down into a deep depression.

Once again the bell rang as class ended and broke into my reverie, and I tried not to think of what was next. My least favorite moment during the day, lunch, but I had worked it out to a science. I figured out back in Alaska that people felt less uncomfortable if I paid more attention to my food selections instead of picking aimlessly at anything. Someone like me always got stares anyway and so I didn't want to attract extra attention, therefore I tried to appear as if I was thinking about what I wanted to eat, even though I always grabbed the same things. It helped to have items that had a nice aroma, not like hamburgers and things that just smelled like death. I don't know what it is, but the grilling of meat has a putrid smell, even for a vampire. I huffed as I entered the lunch room and headed for the line. Once again all eyes were on me and I just held my head high as I started my routine. I grabbed a salad with Italian dressing, an apple juice, and a brownie, that's what I always had.

I walked slowly as I scanned the crowd of students for an empty table, hopefully by a window so I could stare aimlessly outside while pretending to forget about my food. And then I saw him, Christian Foster, sitting by himself at a table I would have chosen for myself. I began to walk over to him when he looked up and saw me coming. _Oh no, she's coming over here._ His thoughts stopped me short as if I had crossed some invisible shock line. _What am I going to do? What will I say? Act calm. Act calm. Oh my goodness,_ his thought continued.

"Hello Christian," I said slowly as I approached the other side of the table. "Is this seat taken?" I gestured at the seat directly across from him and slowly sat my tray down onto the table.

"Um no," was all he could muster so I sat down.

"So Christian," I started after a long moment trying to create small talk. "Why are you sitting alone?"

"Uhhh, no one ever sits with me. They all think I'm-," he trailed off.

"You're what?"

"Weird I guess," he continued. "I've never asked. My family moved here last year from Michigan when my grandmother here got sick and my mother wanted to take care of her. I guess, I'm different and I fidget a lot, so everyone kind of thinks I'm weird." Christian rambled on sort of quickly but of course I had no trouble following along.

"Oh," I replied lightly as I picked through my salad with a fork as if to stir in my dressing. Christian fidgeted some more and continuously ran his fingers through his shaggy hair. His scent continued to waft in my direction and the monster tore his claws into my throat, but it was much easier to bear in such a large room.

"So," I started again. I had to keep him talking. I didn't want to hear his thoughts. "What classes do you have left for today?"

_What? Why does she want to know that? Why is she even talking to me? She's so beautiful she could have any guy in this school, why is she talking to me?_ He thought some more before he choked out an answer. "Um, I have Geometry, Gym and Science. Why?"

"Well, I just wanted to see if we had any other classes together."

"Do we?" he asked stunned as a puzzled look crossed his face.

"Yes," I paused but didn't take my eyes off of my food. "Gym, and science."

Christian blushed some more and it became was much easier to bear. "Christian," I started again. "Can you help me with our classes? I'm afraid I'm a little behind and I would love some help catching up," I asked innocently. I tried to give him a half smile as I knew that a full smile would only make things harder.

Before he could answer I saw a flash of something outside the cafeteria window and turned to look at what it was. I couldn't believe my eyes. There it stood, in the school's parking lot. A bright canary yellow Porsche, and of course you know who was perched on its shiny hood. "Alice!" I hissed under my breath so low that Christian couldn't hear, but Alice smiled and waved at me.


	3. Chapter 3

**NOTE ::** I do not claim to be an amazing writer, just that I enjoy it. Please feel free to leave comments and reviews as long as they are kind and/or constructive! I do love to hear what you think!

* * *

**Forever Mine - Chapter 3**

Alice sat on the hood of her newly shined Porsche and stared at me expectantly. I knew I had to go and talk to her, but for some reason I didn't want to pull myself away from Christian. I wanted to understand what was going on with his mind and my inability to block his forthcoming thoughts.

"Um, Christian? Could you excuse me for a moment? I'll be right back!" I said to him not taking my eyes off of Alice and the brightly colored vehicle. Surely someone would have noticed her by now.

"Ugh, yeah, sure thing," he said confused. He hadn't followed my gaze, but by the sound of his thoughts, he was still preoccupied with the question of why I had chosen him to befriend over anyone else.

I quickly made my way out of the nearest exit and over to where Alice was patiently waiting for me. "Alice? What are you doing here?" I started as I approached her and she slid down from her spot on the hood.

"I saw something rather, well, disturbing and I came to check up on you!" she claimed in a tone that was rather contradicting to what she had just proclaimed. She could have easily been saying that she was trying to decide what to eat for lunch, but for us I suppose that kind of statement would have been equally tragic.

Suddenly I gasped at the shocking scene that replayed in Alice's thoughts. What? When had this happened? It was fuzzy and unclear, all except for one thing, a face. That face was recognizable to me though it was very different than I had known it. The eyes looked back at me from her vision and I knew for a fact to whom they belonged, but the color was different. It was that subtle difference that shocked me and must have been the disturbing scene Alice was referring too. "NO!" I growled at her. "No, no, no! Why? How?"

"Cadence, you know I have nothing to do with the visions I have! You've seen everything I've seen and you know everything I know, maybe more." Alice continued in her thrilling voice. "You must have done something to bring this about."

"It's not true, it won't happen! I won't let it happen!" I interrupted her.

"It was a little cloudy. Something is undecided, but one thing is very clear, you saw that for yourself! I don't know the face, though it seems that maybe you do! Who is it?"

I couldn't believe it. "But, but…why him? He has nothing to do with anything," I cried out still in shock. I couldn't answer her questions now when I had so many questions of my own.

"Cadence, what has happened today that brought on this future? Who is he?" Alice asked calmly once again.

At that moment I looked over my shoulder at Christian Foster. It was his face that was so clear in Alice's visions, different in so many ways but I undeniably recognized his eyes. Christian sat at the table unmoved as he stared back at me. It seems he had been watching Alice and me. A few other gawkers had also lingered over to the window and were now staring and pointing, but I never took my eyes off of Christian. "It's him." I said as I slightly nodded in his direction.

"Him?" Alice asked puzzled. "Yes, the eyes are familiar, but why him?"

"Alice, something really strange is happening when I'm around him," I started as a wave of emotion came over me. "I can't seem to shut out his thoughts like I can everyone else's. I don't understand it. I can't control it!" I tried to explain. I wanted to say more, with more detail and useful infortmation, but even I couldn't muster my usual eloquent nature.

Alice continued to look at Christian with a puzzled expression. "He is a peculiar boy," he added.

Quickly Christian looked away and began to fidget and tousle his hair again as the blush reclaimed his face. I smiled and Alice shot me a glance. "Oh," Alice said suddenly.

"What? What, 'Oh!'? What is that supposed to mean?" I started but Alice began to walk back to the driver's side of her Porsche.

"Cadence, I need to go talk to Edward and Carlisle. This is going to take some serious thinking!"

"But, Alice, what is going on?" I protested.

"Just go back to class and finish the day. Edward will be here waiting for you when the final bell rings. Don't procrastinate, come straight home after school as we will have much to discuss," Alice instructed as she got into her car.

"But, Alice!" I tried to protest but she quickly started the car and drove away as fast as she could push the pedal, which for a vampire might be a little too fast.

I stood there for a moment in silence, still shook from what I had just seen and from Alice's reaction. I couldn't believe this was happening and I really didn't want to have to explain myself to Carlisle. I especially did not want to have to explain myself to Edward, though I wouldn't have to say a word to him for him to understand. Something I had done had brought on a unfathomable future for Christian and now I would have to try everything in my power to make sure it didn't come to fruition. But, how had I done it? How had Christian's eyes taken on the one characteristic that I would never wish upon him or anyone? And what did Alice mean by her sudden reaction of me? Did she see something that I didn't catch? What would Carlisle say? I didn't understand a thing that had happened and I was left with more questions than answers.

I turned toward the windows of the cafeteria in time to see the growing number of onlookers quickly turn away and head back to their seats. At that point I looked at Christian, whose normal human green eyes were still fixed on me, and I just breathed heavily. Just then the lunch bell rang, signaling that it was time to return to class. Great, at least I hadn't had to pretend to eat a meal for one day. I quickly ran inside, as fast as I could manage while still appearing human to find Christian standing there gathering his things. _I should say something_, he thought loudly. _But what would I ask her? Who was that? Why did you guys keep looking at me? Why do you look so upset?_

"Um, sorry about that," I broke into his personal quarrel. This may be how I will have to function around him and I was beginning to get used to it. "That was my sister, Alice. She's so over protective, she wanted to check in on me." I flashed a smile as best as I could in the situation, but I was still upset.

"Oh," Christian said unsure, and hesitated before he began to walk away. He had no idea what to say to me, and I just shrugged and began to gather my things. I still have the rest of the day to spend to get to know him. Getting the information I needed from him was going to be harder than I thought.

_Why was she here? Like one Cullen isn't enough._

_Oh my goodness, she is so gorgeous, just like the rest of the Cullens._

_Why does she look so upset? I don't understand what she has to be upset about, the Cullen's have everything?_

Oh, no. Alice's news had brought me so much inner turmoil that my guard came tumbling down. I couldn't control the onslaught of thoughts while I was so upset about the disturbing images I had playing over in my mind. I would have to calm down if I had any chance of making it through the day. Once again I threw my bag over my shoulder and began on my way to my next class.

Art class passed by ever so slowly, but then again I was used to an absence of time. Being a vampire and never sleeping kind of makes time drag. I spent the time trying to force the thought of Christian out of my mind in order to keep control over my power, however the harder I tried, the harder it became. So many mundane thoughts flew around the room and I got so tired of listening to them. If I survived this, and surely I would since I of course could not die, then I would have to ask Edward how he did it. This was becoming more insane as time went on. I usually loved art class, but I had barely picked up my pencil. I couldn't focus on what was going on in class with the thoughts of so many ringing in my periphery.

I sat still with my hands over my ears and tried to focus on my own sanity by the time the bell rang. I jumped out of my seat to rush through the doors for the second time today and made my way to the gym. I probably wouldn't get much time to talk to Christian while everyone exercised and played whatever sport they assigned, but he would be there and I could hopefully tune into him.

Today was the third day of basketball and since I was new, the teacher didn't force me to change for the game. I'm not a sports person, but heightened senses did lend themselves to a good game. The teacher gave me a uniform and allowed me to sit out for the day, which I was actually grateful for, considering the situation. I had my eyes set on Christian and I wanted to tune everyone else out while I listened to him. Focusing on his thoughts I calmed and steadied my personal fears and emotions. It was easier, I found, to tune others out once I had something, or someone, specific to focus on. Maybe this was how Edward did it. I caught Christian looking at me a few times, and each time he saw me his face turned as red as a red delicious apple. Perhaps I shouldn't have compared him to a piece of human food, nor one that had the word delicious in the title, because the burn claimed my throat and I had to look down at my hands to refocus. Finally I had calmed down enough to fixate on Christian alone. As he played basketball I listened in to his thoughts. I tried to focus not only on his unspoken words, but also his feelings and emotions behind what he thought.

_I wonder what she's thinking about. I can't see her face. Does she like me? She's just so beautiful, but what would she want with me? Maybe she does just want to be my friend….no that can't be. I don't know why she would want to be my friend, but why else did she sit with me at lunch? I did like her company, but she surprised me. I hope she doesn't think I'm weird like everyone else does. She looked so upset after her sister came. If she really was checking up on her then why would she be so upset by what her sister said? Maybe it's just a sister thing, or even a girl thing, I don't know. But she hasn't said anything to me since class started. She barely even looked at me, and when she did she had this weird look on her face. I guess I'll find out more in Science class, that's if she's not mad at me and actually talks to me. Oh well, I guess I can wonder all I want because I'll never figure this out on my own._

Continuing to listen to his thoughts, I started to feel the weight of his confusion, his sorrow. His words had a massively low undertone that brought me down to something I didn't want to be in. It was as if this boy had no hope for anything in his life, just going through the motions. What had he been through that would bring him to such a low? It never occurred to me that maybe it was this negativity that pushed people away. Maybe he didn't want friends, though his thoughts seemed eager when I started talking to him. It could have just been me though; we know my kind can have that affect on people. Thinking of this created a pang inside of me that I don't believe I ever felt before, at least not to this extent. It was as if a hole had opened inside of me and I felt a sort of sadness, not for myself I realized, but for Christian?

_Good, class is almost over! _

The thoughts broke me out of my reverie and I couldn't believe it. Class was almost over and I hadn't figured out anything about why I couldn't tune out his thoughts. I looked up again to find Christian looking at me as well. It startled me to see his bright green eyes boring into me this way and something inside of me gave a tug. I began to smile at him and for the first time he didn't turn away from my gaze. He blushed still and I began to giggle, holding my hand over my mouth. Oh my goodness, I had figured it out. Not why I couldn't tune him out, something that struck me with Alice's visit. The tug I felt was in my heart, and the reason I felt sadness for Christian was because I cared about him. I liked this lanky boy, this sandy haired Christian Foster that looked a little too old to be in the 9th grade. That was what had changed, what I had done that brought on Alice's vision and I hadn't even known it. I met him, and I already had feelings for him, and that would change his life forever.


	4. Chapter 4

**NOTE ::** I do not claim to be an amazing writer, just that I enjoy it. Please feel free to leave comments and reviews as long as they are kind and/or constructive! I do love to hear what you think!

* * *

**Forever Mine - Chapter 4**

I couldn't believe the revelation that I had just stumbled upon. Why hadn't I seen this before? It was undeniable that I felt something for this boy, but why hadn't I noticed? Could I really bring about a horrible future for him? I must admit that I wouldn't have chosen this life for myself, but I did love it now. Leaving my family, my true family behind had been hardest for me. I wondered most of all, what was it that brought Christian into my life, or rather my current existence? What were the circumstances that would make him become what Alice had seen? Maybe knowing what it was would help me to stop it. I couldn't bring myself to believe that it would be love that would change Christian, like Bella had chosen, but if not that then what else would it be? Some first day of High School this was turning out to be.

I decided that I needed a little more time to think to myself before I could face Christian again and I made my way to class alone. The events that transpired during the day whirled around in my head and I couldn't believe that the day still wasn't over yet. I had to get some sort of information out of Christian, something that I could bring back to Carlisle and the family that could help this situation. I wasn't sure what could have helped situation at that point and I was beginning to believe that Christian would not hold the answers I so desperately needed. He didn't even know what he was doing to my psyche and couldn't even begin to understand what might happen in the future.

I walked into Science class and handed the teacher my slip as I had in my previous classes. My thoughts were still clouded so I didn't take the time to keep up the pretences of introducing myself with a smile. He pointed to a lab station in the middle of the room and I made my way to one of the seats there. There weren't many students in class yet and no one was sitting at my station yet, but I was sure that my partner would make their way to class shortly as I was undoubtedly early in my haste. I began to stare blankly out the large open window on the wall opposite the door and let my thoughts wander. What would Carlisle say to me? This was beginning to remind me more and more of Edward and Bella, but I had to make a different decision. I suppose the better statement would be, could I make a different decision?

_Oh my goodness._ I jumped from my seat as his thoughts rang loudly in my head, making my stool topple to the floor with a startling clatter. Turning to look in the direction of the doorway, I realized that everyone was now staring at me, including Christian who stood within the opening of the entryway. His eyes were wide as he made his way over to me. _She's sitting at my station, _he thought.

"Hi, Christian," I started when he made his way closer. I tried to keep my expression neutral best as I could.

"Hi," he said. "I guess you're my lab partner."

"I am? You sit here?" I acted surprised.

"I do," he said slowly as he placed his books on the table and sat down in the seat to my right. "I mean, I do sit here," he added hastily.

_Oh great, now she must think I'm some kind of weirdo stalker who wants to marry her, _he thought to himself. He stared down blankly at the table and I shifted to pick up my seat. The bell rang for class to start and the teacher began to walk around to the front of his desk with a book in his hands. "So today we are going to continue the lab that you were working on last week. In your books you should be able to pick up where you left off with the instruction on page 79."

Christian began flipping through his book and retrieving papers from his folder. I looked over at him wearily and started to do the same. "So I'll leave you to it then, and please don't forget to show your work," the teacher continued. "Please turn your paper in here at the end of class," he finished as he gestured to a basket on his desk.

I turned to Christian and stared blankly. I didn't know what I was waiting for. Maybe he would get up and start running for the door? But that seemed a little irrational, considering that I hadn't done anything to warrant such a reaction. Maybe something in his brain would just click and I wouldn't hear his thoughts anymore? That seemed too good to be true, and therefore was. Realistically, I suppose I just wanted him to tell me a little about what the assignment was about. In his mind he was going over his work but I still had no idea what it was, or more importantly, why he didn't have a lab partner.

Christian turned his head ever so slowly and looked at me with his big puppy dog eyes wide with confusion. "Umm, what?" he stated.

"Well, I suppose for starters, what is the lab about, since I'm your new partner and all!" I said to him smiling innocently as I so often liked to do. I batted my eyelashes for added effect.

Christian quickly looked back down at his text book and began panting, trying to catch his breath that I hadn't know he had lost. His face turned even redder then it had turned all day and I realized that I had said something wrong. The monster within raged and lashed out at me, ripping at my throat as it burned with desire. I couldn't believe this was happening now. I struggled to keep calm within the classroom and held my breath. Christian's thoughts whirled around and I tried to concentrate on them. _How could I be so stupid? Of course she is mad at me, just listen to how she is talking to me. Of course she doesn't like me, no one as beautiful as her would like me. And look at how she's smiling at me, with such sarcasm, trying to spare my feelings no doubt._ His thoughts went on.

What was happening? Why did he think such horrible things? I wanted to touch him, to place my hand on his and comfort him, to let him know that everything was ok. I wanted to let him know how I felt, to tell him things I probably shouldn't, but I knew that was impossible. I couldn't do it. The images from Alice's vision came to the forefront and I knew what I had to do at this point. I couldn't comfort him. In fact he could never know how I felt about him. I had to stay away as best as I could. Something panged in my heart, a feeling unknown to me and I knew that this was much more than I had anticipated. My feelings for Christian had changed me much more than I had thought and I could not bring myself to say anything to the object of my affection. I would do this, I would leave him to live his human life as best as he could and I would not interfere with it. I had to do this for the one I loved. Loved, it sounded so awkward but it was true at this point. I realized that my feelings for him had changed me to a point that I loved him. My eyes burned in such a way that I knew if I could, I would have been crying at that moment.

"Um, Christian," I managed to choke out. Don't be so hard on yourself? I feel the same way you do, sort of? I love you? All of these were things I wanted to say but knew I couldn't, to protect him.

Christian looked up at me with weary eyes and stared blankly at me. I opened my mouth but nothing came out. I was stuck and had no idea what to say to him next. Could I really play the role that I had given myself? Was I capable of lying to him? Yes. Would I really be able to live with that decision? As much as I had to, I didn't know!

"The assignment," he stated.

"Huh?" I pushed out in confusion. Right, it had seemed like an hour ago in the few short seconds that had passed where I had asked him about the assignment. "Right," I agreed quickly. His eyes burned into mine and I swear I could lose myself in them.

Christian showed me his work and we began to work on the lab together. He didn't say much except to point out an answer to questions and it all felt a little strange. His thoughts were mostly on his work with the occasional battering that he gave himself about how stupid he was for liking me. His thoughts made my resolve harder to bear. He actually liked me in return, something he hadn't actually thought of until now. I mean, he had thought about how beautiful I was, but not his feelings for me.

"Have you done this lab before?" I asked him confused.

"Um, yeah, back home in Michigan," he replied.

"What? How is that?" I definitely wasn't slow and he said he moved here last year, so how had he gone through 9th grade material over a year ago?

"Well," he hesitated. "I'm not actually supposed to be in the 9th grade. You see, I was already in 9th grade before I came here but I ended up being held back, and then when I got here I was missing some classes that they require so they held me behind again! I'm actually supposed to be in the 11th grade."

Well that explained why I thought he didn't look like a 9th grader. "Really? So how old are you then?" I said with some excitement.

"Well, I'm 17," he said ever so slowly.

"Seventeen!" I shouted. "So am…" I trailed off as I realized that I wasn't supposed to tell anyone and the rest of the class was staring at our table. "Sorry." I ducked my head and stared at my book. This was wonderful; he was 17 just like me. Wait, it didn't matter how old he was as I realized that I couldn't get involved with him. Suddenly my excitement faded and my expression turned solemn.

"Wow, it's not that old," he started to protest. "I know many of the freshman here don't like that I'm so much older than them but it's not that big of a deal."

"No, no, no, Christian, it's not a big deal to me," I looked at him again and his face began to relax. "I… I like that you're 17." I said with a smile. What was I saying? I'm not supposed to get close to him, why was I telling him what I liked about him?

I started to look back down at my paper and I noticed that Christian's eyebrows began to push down in a hard V. _She likes that I'm 17? But I thought she hated me!? I'm so clueless, I don't know what she thinks about me._ Christian's thoughts went on once more and I had to bite my lip in an effort not to respond.

Students around us began to turn in their assignments and gather their books into their backpacks. Class must be over soon. I looked over at Christian to find that he was almost done with the assignment as well. I wrote down the answers so quickly that no one could see and folded it into my book. Just then the bell rang. Christian looked at me under his glasses but didn't say anything.

"Well I guess I'll see you tomorrow?" I started, trying not to get into too much conversation with him.

Christian's gaze faltered. "Um, yeah, tomorrow!" he said as his voice broke. He had something else on his mind but I was too caught up in my own anguish that I couldn't pay much attention.

Something about the way he looked tore at my heart and I knew I had to get out of there. I hurriedly gathered my things and dropped off my assignment as I rushed out the door. My eyes burned again and I knew what I had to do. I dropped off my slips to the front office before I made my way to Edward's car in the parking lot. Of course there were onlookers and gawkers staring at Edward and his Aston Martin respectively, but I didn't care as I yanked open the passenger door and jumped inside.

"Cadence?" Edward started. I knew he already heard what was wrong as Alice had undoubtedly told him and he could read my own anguishing thoughts.

"I don't want to talk about it," I proclaimed. I didn't have to say it as he knew what I was going to say next but I said it anyway. "I need to talk to Bella."


	5. Chapter 5

**NOTE ::** I do not claim to be an amazing writer, just that I enjoy it. Please feel free to leave comments and reviews as long as they are kind and/or constructive! I do love to hear what you think!

* * *

**Forever Mine - Chapter 5**

Edward didn't say anything the entire way home, which of course wasn't as long of a drive as it probably should have been. I was grateful for that short drive though because that meant that Edward didn't have to listen to my entire day play over and over again in my mind. I couldn't get Christian's face out of my thoughts, his before or human face and of course his after face, courtesy of Alice.

I was out of the car in seconds when Edward pulled into the garage, my mind open and listening for everyone. I might not be able to hear Bella, but I could hear Renesmee and I was sure she was near her mother. I dropped my bag by the stairs, not even wasting time trying to put it in my room and made my way quickly into the back yard. Sure enough, Bella was there with Renesmee and Jacob was close by. They were playing with some rocks and demolishing a poor tree as they used it for target practice. "Cadence!" Renesmee called out as she saw me approach.

"Hey Ness," I greeted as she ran over and threw her arms around me. I didn't care too much for the nickname of Nessie that Jacob had given her, but Renesmee was a little long for greetings so I always liked to settle on just plain Ness. Besides, Ness was getting older now. She had only been born a short 5 years ago but she was already the size of a tall 12 year old or small 13 year old. She would be surprisingly full grown in another 2 years or so. Because of her unusual growth spurts she was home schooled, not that she needed it. Ness was already smarter than I was by an unimaginable margin. Reading at just a few months of age, Ness had managed to finish Elementary classes by the time she was one. She sped through High School lessons by the time she was 2 ½ and had started taking classes online for a Bachelor's Degree in Advanced Sciences.

"Kid, you're gonna have to stop growing soon," I said to her as I ruffled her hair.

"I will soon, and then I'll be the same as everyone else around here," she replied as she placed her hands on her hips.

"Trust me, it's not all it's cracked up to be," I smirked.

I made my way to Bella who was still throwing rocks at unsuspecting trees. The rocks hit the trees so hard that they had splintered and even broke under the pressure. "Bella," I crooned as an uneasy smile crossed my face. She instinctively wrapped her arms around me and hugged me tightly, so she must already know as well.

"Renesmee," Bella started as she let me go. "Stay here and play will Jacob while Cadence and I catch up."

Ness and Jake decided to make a game out of their activity by seeing who could knock out an entire tree first. Bella didn't seem to mind this and we made our way through the thick trees where we could talk more privately. "So Edward told me about your new friend," Bella started and broke our silence.

"Great, saves me the trouble. So he must have also told you about Alice's vision then?" I went on.

"Yes, but that some of it was still undecided?"

"Ugh, I don't know what to do Bella, you're the only one who's been on the other side, been in his shoes and I need your advice. What do I do? Should I let it happen or should I try to stop it?"

"Cadence, if there's anything that being a vampire and Alice's visions have taught me is that something is going to happen. You have feelings for him and a change that deep can't be undone. Alice's vision was clear enough that he will be one of us, the only thing undecided are the circumstances."

"But, what about him? I have to try, don't I? I have to give him a normal life!" I began pleading.

"Hmmm, you already know the answer to that question or else you wouldn't be here talking to me," she sighed as she placed her hand on my arm. "Trying to do it for him won't help anything. You've already talked to him and you've changed him. You can't force someone into a future because you think it might be best for them, you have to let them decide. I'm no Alice but I don't think this can be avoided. Even if you try to run, where are you going to run to? If you try to avoid him, for how long will it last? Even Edward couldn't stay away for long and all you'll be doing is hurting that poor boy in the process."

"But how can I let him decide without completely breaking the laws? And what if he rejects our life, then I'll have put him in danger by telling him."

"Cadence, I think you're reading too much into this. We have Alice on our side, nothing is entirely uncertain. And we all know that the Voltury aren't exactly a match for us anymore."

"Especially not with Emmett's big ego and you're big power!" I said nudging her with my elbow.

Just then Bella and I could hear Edward's footsteps as he started getting closer to where we had been conversing. "I think we've been made," I said sarcastically with a smile playing on my lips.

"Carlisle is home. He wants to meet with everyone," Edward started as soon as he came into view.

This day just couldn't get any better. At times like these I only wished I had Alice's visions so that I could see the outcomes for myself. I was beginning to hate the guessing games and though reading thoughts was insightful I sometimes wish I could know these things a little sooner.

We reached the house to find everyone had gathered in the diningroom, or the court table as I liked to call it. That seemed to be the only thing it was ever used for. Carlisle was sitting at the head of the table with Esme at his right. Alice was perched at Carlisle's left with Rosalie sitting next to her, while Jasper and Emmett stood behind them. The boys were talking about something to themselves, and I didn't care to find out what it was. Ness must have still been playing outside with Jacob because neither of them were anywhere to be seen. "Cadence," Carlisle greeted me with nothing but warmth and love in his voice. That alone made me remember why I liked it here so much, something that I was quickly putting in jeopardy.

Esme stood and made her way toward me with her arms outstretched and a warm smile lit up her face. She hugged me in a way to show sympathy and say that everything was going to be alright in that way that only a mother could. You couldn't help but feel alright in her arms.

I made my way to the open seat next to Esme's and Bella sat beside me while Edward stood with the rest of the boys. Carlisle cleared his throat and looked everyone in the eyes one at a time. "So most of you have heard that Alice has had a vision that will probably concern us all, but Cadence most. Cadence, since you know what Alice has seen, as well as what she hasn't, why don't you tell us what has happened today. You will probably be able to tell us more."

My eyes widened as everyone looked to me for answers. "I, I don't know where to start," I managed to choke out. Bella rubbed my arm as if to say that everything was going to be alright. "Ummmm, I guess it started when I was in second period, um this boy, Christian, I couldn't block his thoughts. No matter what I did, as long as I was near him I could hear his thoughts, it drove me crazy. I wanted to know more, see if there was something about him or something that he did, anything that would help me to block him out. I still don't understand it. But then Alice showed up at lunch and I saw what she saw, in her vision. Christian was one of us, his eyes were clearly yellow. Well, it took me a while to calm down and realize what Alice also saw for herself, that I guess I liked him." I wouldn't let them know that I clearly loved him.

"And he obviously likes you?" Rosalie chimed in with such a tone that it startled me for a moment.

"I guess!? I mean yeah, his thoughts made it clear!" I said in response. Rosalie rolled her eyes and I looked away, trying my best to keep my composure because I surely didn't want to listen to the thoughts of everyone here.

"So," Carlisle broke into the awkwardness that began to weigh heavy on the room. "So what do you think should be done, Cadence?"

I lifted my head and looked Carlisle straight in the eyes. "I think I should try to leave him out of this. I believe that I can stop talking to him, and I can make him believe that there's nothing there. He already has a negative outlook on, well, everything it seems. In science class he already started to believe that I didn't like him at all. I can stay away from him. I can…"

"Cadence," Edward cut me off. "That is going to be nearly impossible. You can hear his thoughts and his alone, even when you are trying your hardest to block him. You can't begin to understand how much more difficult that makes this situation. You've never had to deal with something like that and hearing one person alone is much more difficult than hearing everyone at once. Much like when I couldn't hear Bella alone out of a crowd of thoughts. It's extremely frustrating, and hearing is very different than not hearing."

"Why do you think she can only hear him against everyone else?" Carlisle asked Edward.

"The only thing I can think of is that maybe he has a strong power that like Bella's, may be manifesting in his human form. It could be the exact opposite of Bella's. Where she could keep everything in and shield her mind from other powers, perhaps this boy's mind is equally as unique. In this life his power can a have very opposite effect than Bella's. It's hard to tell what it might become, but I think it could end up similar to Renesmee's gift and no one will be able to keep him out," Edward finished. Everyone was silent with their eyes wide as they pondered this idea.

"Well," Carlisle exclaimed. "That is surely something that could be considered, Cadence."

"Considered? Considered? For what reason would I consider anything?" I could feel all the blood in my body boil as I got angrier by the second. "I already told you my decision. I plan to stay away from him, end of discussion. I can't, I won't do this to him! I don't care about anything else!" I rose from my seat as I slammed my fist on the table. That should make it final, right?

I shoved my chair back and began to storm out of the room. I didn't care anymore, not about what anyone had to say and certainly not about discussing it any further. I couldn't pour my heart to these people, not yet, and all I wanted to do was get out of there.

"Well it's your decision, Cadence," Carlisle managed to squeeze in as I marched passed him.

_Whatever_, I thought to myself.

I couldn't, no wouldn't let this happen to him. I couldn't believe how after only one day I had managed to make such a mess of things here in Forks. I mean really, Forks of all places. I had started to believe that it wouldn't have really mattered where I was; something was always bound to happen as long as vampires were around. Christian had so much more to live for, right? Surely there was something in his life that I didn't know about that made my decision the right one. I had to find out for myself, find out everything there was to Christian Foster that would let me know that this decision was the only one there could be. I had to prove to myself that Christian deserved to live out his existence as a human, and nothing else. It seemed problematic for sure, but what other way was there? Perhaps it was possible to find out everything I needed to know without actually talking to him. I could spy on him and see his life from another perspective. Yes, that was what I was going to do.


	6. Chapter 6

**NOTE ::** I do not claim to be an amazing writer, just that I enjoy it. Please feel free to leave comments and reviews as long as they are kind and/or constructive! I do love to hear what you think!

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**Forever Mine - Chapter 6**

It was another cold and drizzly day in Forks, Washington; at least that is what the weather channel said this morning. I personally wouldn't know cold if it slapped me in the face, being that I'm a vampire and all. I had to dress accordingly in an effort to blend in, so I watched the news before I headed out to school. Yes, I was still going to school and I was sticking to my plan. It had been two months since Alice's vision and I was determined to shut Christian out. It probably would have been less frustrating if it hadn't been for Alice's constant reminders. Every time she saw me she would walk by as if not seeing me and chime in, "The vision hasn't changed!" with a sing song-like child's voice. It was beginning to rain on my determination, but only a little. The fifteenth time she said those words to me, I was in the kitchen when she walked in giving me her report. I started to wonder if I could take her out planning out how I would do it and knowing that like Edward we would be too evenly matched. She must have caught a vision of my plans because she quickly looked up at me and stuck her tongue out before prancing back out the way she came. Of course that didn't stop her from continuing to put in her two cents.

I walked the halls trying to steer clear of Christian every chance I got. It wasn't hard since I could hear his thoughts every time he got close. I made it a point not to listen to anyone while in school so I could hear him when he started to approach the area I was in. I almost liked the sound of his voice when he did, but I quickly tried to shut those thoughts out of my head. Today was no different though and it went just as smooth as always. As I was walking the halls to first period I began to hear the first thought that came from his mind. It took me a matter of two seconds to duck in the girl's bathroom as I quickly ran into the nearest stall and shut the door behind me, trying not to appear too suspicious. It may have been a little too quick but there was nothing I could do about that. Christian was thinking about an upcoming test and I started to feel myself well up inside over the sound his internal voice made. It was very different than the one he spoke in. His internal voice was sort of strong in a sense and I liked to imagine that I could curl up in it sometimes. It's a weird idea I know, to curl up into a sound, but it's hard to explain it if you can't hear thoughts like I can. They can seem almost tangible because they create such vivid images in the mind, especially those of someone whom you loved.

I waited and listened, and listened and waited, until I could hear his voice no more. All the other girls within the bathroom had left and I slowly made my way to the front bathroom door and peered out. I wanted to be sure that he was out of my vision before creeping back into the hallway. It had only been two months, but I didn't know how much longer I would able to keep it up. I hated to even think it, but the others were more right than I had thought. Just the fact that I could hear his voice, though a good thing in being able to hide, made everything that much harder for me but I was determined to give the best try I could. I didn't want to give in to my desires; I wanted to be strong for the one I loved. There was a saying, if you love something let it go, and I was trying to let him go. My eyes started to burn once more, as they had done countless times since my first day of school. The feeling had almost become familiar, like it was no big deal and it happened all the time. I suppose that lately it did happen all the time. At that point I started to wish that I could really cry like a normal seventeen year old human girl. It seems like the weirdest thing to say, that you would rather walk around crying than not crying, but the feeling was becoming more bothersome than just being able to show my true emotion. The burning sensation I felt was like a buildup of something so overwhelming that had no relief, no end. I hated it. I began to loath it with all my being. It was a sign of weakness, surely something that would wear down at my resolve and break me for sure.

I sat through first period and zoned out half of the class. I didn't really care much about what was going on. Honestly, I had read the entire reading curriculum that had been assigned to my English class during my first week in Forks, in an effort to keep my mind off of Christian. Though a good idea at the time, it really didn't help at all. I often found myself imagining the different male roles of all the books to look like Christian. So far Christian had starred in my mind as a farm owner, a god, a nobleman, and many more. He began to haunt my daydreams as well and I just wished I could run away. Just as I was thinking about the last book I had read and how "Christian" was a strong political figure I almost jumped out of my seat when I heard the bell ring, signaling the end of class.

Suddenly I felt that feeling come over me again and I wanted to huddle over in what felt like pain in my stomach. That's right, I was now being plagued by anxiety and fear mixed with giddied excitement like some teenage schoolgirl. I mean, I was a teenage school girl, but I was definitely older than what I was being forced to play. I had to grow up too fast in the short five years and all of the commotion started to drain the last excuse of life from me, or whatever you might want to call the force that kept me here on earth. It was time to go see Christian in our first class together of the day, and I was a nervous yet excited wreck.

It wasn't long of course before we were sitting there next to each other and I was being forced to drown in the sound of his thoughts once more; the smooth velvety sound that his voice made as he thought of me. Could you believe it, he still thought of me after all that time. Now I know two months wasn't a very long time to humans but it should have been long enough to stop having any sort of feelings for someone, and he often thought about me. One day he spent the entire class hour thinking about how smooth and silky my hair was and wondered how I got it that way. It was wonderful yet frustrating at the same time. I ignored him whenever he would turn to me in an attempt to say something, though nothing would ever come out of his lips.

Today, Christian had something on his mind and his internal dialogue came across loud and clear. It was almost as if he was yelling it at me, willing his every wish onto me. _I'm going to talk to her! Nothing she will do or say is going to make me not talk to her! What if she won't talk to me though? I don't care, I'm going to make her talk to me, and if not then I will just tell her! Yes, I will tell her!_ Oh boy, he was going to actually try and talk to me today. What would he tell me? What would I say in return? Could I keep my composure? He was beginning to turn to me once more, only this time he spoke in the faintest tone. I'm sure I wouldn't have heard him if I were human, however I wasn't and being able to hear his thoughts before he spoke made it easy to prepare myself. "Cadence, can I talk to you?" he mumbled out.

I tried to ignore him, to pretend that I hadn't heard his spoken word, but he started again. "Cadence? I need to talk to you!" he said matter of factly.

I turned slowly toward him as not to startle him. He seemed to be sweating and his hair was even more of a jumbled mess than it had ever been. Why hadn't I noticed before? I know I wasn't trying to look at him but he seemed to be even more disheveled than usual. My lips were pursed together in an effort not to breath in his scent and I hoped that I gave off a certain look that showed ambivalence. I didn't speak, and since he seemed to be waiting for something I just raised my eyebrows in a rushed way. The expression on his face changed and I picked from his head that he thought I was annoyed. "Um, I would like to talk to you today. Maybe at lunch?" he said and I could hear the uneasiness return in his voice.

At that point I really didn't know what to say. I couldn't talk to Christian, what would I say? I didn't want to give anything away or break my silent promise that I made to him. What in the world would he want to talk about anyway? He wasn't giving anything away in his thoughts, just sheer determination. I didn't think I was going to be able to talk myself out of this one so avoidance would have to do. No words would formulate on my tongue so I decided that saying nothing at all was probably the better option. Quickly, I turned back to face the teacher and focused intently on the lesson.

I had started sitting alone at lunch and even went as far as to sit outside on days when it wasn't raining in an effort to get further away from Christian so I wouldn't have to hear his thoughts. Unfortunately, it was in fact raining today, but still I dragged myself outside, not even bothering to get a tray of food. I had hoped that Christian wouldn't go as far as to try and come out in the cold rain to talk to me. I really didn't want to talk to him today, nor did I want a confrontation. As I made my way to my usual bench that was just the right distance from the cafeteria, I noticed that I started to hear something. Not just something, someone. I shouldn't have been able to hear him here if he were inside the cafeteria, and I grew suspicious. I looked up to find Christian pacing in front of my bench. Wasn't anything sacred anymore?

I looked at him with utter shock as my eyes narrowed on him. He looked down at his feet and started to feel a little sheepish, but quickly regained his composure as he told himself he was there for a reason. "You can't avoid me, and I need to talk to you!"

"What about Christian? I kinda need to study!" I pushed out. It wasn't at all what I really wanted to say but I pushed those words back down into my throat.

"You're going to study in the rain?" he asked, puzzled.

I didn't give him a response. Instead I looked at him with a questioning gaze.

"I know this may sound weird, but I want to know why you've been avoiding me? I mean, I felt something before, on your first day of school. You talked to me, you said you wanted to be my friend, but then you didn't talk to me anymore after that. I just thought… I mean, I… I don't know, but I know it's not supposed to be like this. I can't explain it, and I completely understand if you think I'm crazy or whatever, but I know what I feel. I just want to know why?" he stopped in a huff.

I didn't know what to say to him. Christian had said so much and I was still having a hard time processing it all, even with my vampire quick thinking. He felt something, a vibe or a pull, it didn't matter what you called it, but he felt it to. The same unexplainable emotion that drew me to him and made me fall in love with him. Now, he was asking me why? Not why he felt what he felt, but why I dropped him. I couldn't tell him the truth to that question and I was wondering if I could avoid this now. Deep down I knew I couldn't. Couldn't tell him and couldn't avoid him. I struggled to pull the words out of me and nothing came. "Christian," I said as my voice broke slightly. I didn't think he could hear it, but to any vampire it would have been obvious. "I don't know what to say!" I admitted. I couldn't think of anything else to say.

He stood there in silence for a long moment. His eyes darted over my face, studying every line, and searched for something that might give him a hint as to what to do next. I made it a point to stay perfectly still and not give way to my true feelings. His eyes began to turn downward at the edges, showing his weary sadness. I mustered up every ounce of strength I had left to say what aloud the words that were playing on my lips, but my heart ached at the thought. I knew they would hurt him, but I knew they had to be said. "Christian, this is silly! How else is it supposed to be? I admit that I did try to be your friend that day, but I think it was a bad idea. I don't feel anything, I don't even know you, and I don't know what you're talking about," I said.

He looked at me for another long moment, one that seemed to never end. Then I noticed them, tears welling up in his eyes. They weren't full tears, but I knew that was because he was fighting them back. His thoughts told me that he didn't get the answer he was looking for, but he also didn't want to know anything more. He was hurt, and my heart went out to him, but I couldn't let him know. Then suddenly he just turned on his heels and walked in the opposite direction, back toward another door of the cafeteria. Looking at his back as he walked away, all I wanted to do was call after him. I wanted to tell him that everything I said wasn't true and that I could feel that unexplainable feeling too. This was not how it was supposed to be, but had to be. I wanted to save him, from myself.

Suddenly I didn't care about school or appearances, and I walked slowly toward the woods behind the school.


	7. Chapter 7

**NOTE ::** I do not claim to be an amazing writer, just that I enjoy it. Please feel free to leave comments and reviews as long as they are kind and/or constructive! I do love to hear what you think!

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**Forever Mine - Chapter 7**

I ran! I ran only to get away from Forks High and the horrible blow I had just given Christian. There was no joy in my running today as my feet forced themselves to pound the dirt one after the other. My eyes burned once more and my body filled with agony as I wanted to scream. How had things come to this point? There was no other way to save Christian besides moving away, and moving didn't seem like an option anymore. I wanted to get away from Christian, but not that far.

There was nothing that would console me now and I couldn't help but wonder how Christian was feeling. I was only happy that I didn't have to sit in class with him and listen to his internal agony. Dealing with my own torture, I pushed myself forward and pounded my feet harder. I just wanted to get away from something that I would never get away from, my own pain. It was inside of me and I could only hope that running would make it die down, at least for a little while.

I didn't know how long I had been running for, but it didn't seem like long enough. Suddenly I could see light ahead and I slowed down before abruptly walking into a large open area of dead grass surrounded by trees. It was a meadow. This must have been Edward and Bella's meadow, where Edward first told Bella what he really was. I looked around and imagined the scene I so often played in my mind of Bella and Edward, and this time it wasn't my two new foster siblings that I saw. Instead it was Christian and me in their place. I knew every detail of that day because I could relieve it in Edward's thoughts. I only had to ask him one question once and he replayed the entire moment in an instant. He knew I could see it and of course didn't even have to answer in words.

I could see it play before me once more and the entire meadow transformed to what it looked like in Edward's memory, full of lush greenery and flowers. Edward would have been standing at the edge of the other side of the meadow, in the deep shade of a huge fir tree, only it wasn't him I was seeing but myself. "I'm the world's best predator, aren't I?" I started. "Everything about me invites you in – my voice, my face, even my smell. As if I need any of that!" I continued with a sharp edge as I spoke to my imaginary Christian, who was standing in Bella's place in the middle of the meadow. I continued to watch the scene unfold and a certain dread took over me.

The supper-imposed, imaginary version of myself started running around the field with vampire speed, stopping below the tree once more. "As if you could outrun me," I laughed bitterly.

Suddenly I reached up and ripped the branch from the trunk of the tree with little effort before throwing it across the meadow. It crashed loudly against the trunk of a tree. Within another second I saw myself standing in front of Christian, before gently saying, "As if you could fight me off."

Finally the memory stopped playing and the scene faded, leaving me standing alone at the other side of the meadow in the brown grass. Seeing it played that way frightened me into something I didn't believe I ever really thought of before. Something inside of me knew that I needed to stay away from Christian, to save him from the monster within, but seeing this memory play before me was something else entirely. I could see Bella's slightly fearful expression imposed on Christian's square shaped face. Seeing it so clearly, with his green eyes looking at me, tore into my heart. I wanted to cry for him, I didn't want to hurt him. Everything said was true, that I was the world's best predator, and I knew what kind of monster I could be, but seeing it unleashed upon Christian this way made me even more fearful for him.

Everything about me was inviting him in, and I wondered if I could ever tell Christian what I was and have it end well the way it had for Edward and Bella. Would he figure it out on his own? I'm sure my running away from school today would have left a questionable impression on Christian. It was right about the time of our last period now and I could imagine him sitting in class wondering how I had missed both of our afternoon classes together. Would he think I was avoiding him? Would he wonder about how I really felt? No, I knew what he would think, in the pessimistic way his thoughts always rang. Right at that moment he was probably thinking I called Edward or Alice to come pick me up from school because I was probably so disgusted with him that I didn't want to be around him. Yeah, that was exactly what he would have been thinking. I sighed in frustration and plopped down where I stood, crossing my legs and resting my chin on my right hand. I couldn't think straight, but thinking was all I could do.

There was a rustling in the bushes across from my current perch and I stood with fierce speed to see something very large make its way into the meadow. It was grey in color and its head was held low, but the sheer size of the creature made me tense up. The creature was a wolf, and not just any wolf, it was a pack member. I wasn't at all familiar with every wolf of the two packs in the Quileute Tribe, though I had met a few of Jacob's pack members while in their human form. I decided to open my mind and listened to the wolf's thoughts to see if I could determine who it was. It was probably the only way I was going to be able to speak to the beast.

_Great, a bloodsucker, _they were thinking._ I need to bite someone's head off._

The voice was female and I knew immediately who it was. She was the only female in Jacob's pack and probably the only female pack member I knew. She took a step towards me, baring her teeth, and I took a step back as I raised my hands in protest. "Leah!" I started and the wolf stopped for a moment in confusion. "It's me, Cadence. I'm new to the Cullen family? I'm not here to hurt anyone!" I could hear the uncertainty in my voice as I tried to reassure her.

She raised her head and looked at me suspiciously before lowering her head once more and growling a deep throaty sound. _I don't care about the Cullens, and I certainly don't care about YOU!_ She thought before she lunged at me, quickly closing the distance between us while she ran full force. The last thing I felt like doing was fighting, nor did I want to disappoint Carlisle in any way by breaking the treaty between our groups, so I quickly started stepping backward to get away from her. In that instant I felt something strange in my mind. It was warm and palpable and I wondered what this new addition could be. I looked into Leah's eyes and realized that it wasn't my mind this feeling was in, but it was Leah's. I heard the probing thoughts of Jacob feel his way around Leah's mind and quickly realized the scene before us. She opened her mouth and started to leap up at me, her sharp teeth heading straight for my throat. My arms went up in protest, though I didn't know what good that was going to do. Suddenly Leah's massive wolf body crashed to the ground. _STOP!_ I heard the command of Jacob's voice loud and clear through Leah's thoughts and its weight crushed her. She tried to stand, but his Alpha command rang loud once more and stopped her dead. _NO!_

My eyes were wide as I processed what I was seeing. Leah Clearwater, in her wolf form, tried to kill me. All of that aside, for some reason Jacob's words and the heavy command they carried, though they had no control over me, frightened me. There was no explanation for the fear from Jacob's mere words, but I felt as if I had to get away. I turned on my heels and ran toward the safety of my home like a little girl, and away from Leah, an all new predator I wasn't willing to face.

Before long I was in sight of the Cullen home, running up the drive and into the front door. I slammed it behind me and rested behind it with my back pressed up against the door. Slowly I slid down it until I was sitting on the floor and panting like a tired dog, not for the need for air but from the sheer fear. I had never been faced with the possibility of dying, not since being brought into this new life. Terror shot through me as I thought about never seeing Christian again, no matter how miserable the situation seemed at the moment.

Just then Carlisle and Esme ran into the living room, followed quickly by Alice. The concern was written clearly on their faces and I was sure Alice must have had a vision of my terrifying events.

"Are you alright, dear?" Esme asked first before kneeling before me.

"I saw everything, Cadence! Are you alright?" Alice chimed in after.

Carlisle knelt next to me and immediately did what he does best, checking me for any bodily harm. "Leah… Leah!" I choked out shakily. I couldn't say more.

"Oh, it's ok honey. We know all about it, it's not your fault," Esme said.

"Yes," Alice chimed in. "Leah got into a heated discussion with Jacob about still hanging out around here. She thinks their talents are better served on the reservation, while Jacob believes that the other pack has a handle on things there. He thinks his pack's talents are better served off the reservation, which is partly why he hangs around here so much. Of course Leah knows that Jacob likes to hang around here for Renesmee, and is still jealous that she hasn't imprinted on anyone herself. Leah decided to go for a run to cool off but then ran into you and decided to take her frustrations out on you," Alice finished matter-of-factly.

"Oh, that's nice to know, I guess!" I chimed.

I wasn't sure if it really mattered to me why Leah had done what she did, only that she had. I looked around at the concerned faces and I realized something. I was surrounded by people who cared for me. What if Jacob hadn't shifted to wolf form right then and hadn't known that Leah was about to rip my throat out? She would have attacked me and I could have died. I would have died, never knowing if Christian ever found happiness. And then I realized that I would have never had the opportunity to find happiness. I knew that I was technically an immortal being and life seemed like an endless existence, but in that moment life felt agonizingly short, almost human. It was true that I was still on my first lifetime. I hadn't lived for hundreds of years where I could truly understand what immortality really meant for someone like me. No, it had only been 23 short years ago that I was born a normal human girl, and I had only been a vampire for 5 years now. My life had been short, as human and as vampire, and now it seemed even shorter.

Could I go on not talking to Christian after my near final death experience? I mean, yes, I still believed that I was a danger to him, but what if I could somehow reduce that danger? There was no way to completely eliminate the danger without either eliminating myself or eliminating Christian's humanity, but now I was faced with the question of how? How could I reduce the threat that I posed to Christian?

"Cadence?" I heard Carlisle suddenly break into my reverie.

I looked up to find all of their eyes on me. Carlisle and Esme still knelt beside me and Alice looked at me expectantly. I realized then that she must have said something that I obviously didn't hear. "I think I'm going to go lie down," I said hesitantly. "I've been through a lot today. I'm drained!"

I shakily made my way to my feet and Carlisle grabbed my arm to help me up. I gave them all reassuring smiles and made my way over to the stairs. As I climbed the first few steps I stopped a turned back to look at my family members. "Alice?" I said as I got her attention. "You were right, nothing has changed!" I turned back and made my way up to my room.


	8. Chapter 8

**NOTE ::** I do not claim to be an amazing writer, just that I enjoy it. Please feel free to leave comments and reviews as long as they are kind and/or constructive! I do love to hear what you think!

* * *

**Forever Mine - Chapter 8**

The sky was dark and the clouds blocked any resemblance of a twinkling star from showing through. I just kept staring at those dark, navy blue patches in the sky that happened to match the color of my soul. Ok, maybe I didn't know what color my soul was, or if it even had a color. Hell, most vampires might argue that we were soulless, but my insides sure did feel dark. For the past ten days I'd been lurking in my room, playing dead on my black leather sofa. I know it sounded like a completely awkward idea, playing dead, but for the first time since being turned I started to feel dead inside. I don't think I had to play really hard to resemble death, but it was times like this when I wished I could sleep. Sleeping could have at least helped pass the time and given me some sort of escape from the pain and darkness I was feeling. Ten days felt more like ten months, and the agony just felt like it would never end.

Leaving my room wasn't the only thing I had not been doing this past week and a half, no. Going to school was another thing I decided to do without. My internal agony was enough to deal with, not to mention the fear I had started to feel after my run in with the only female pack member. It was crippling, this intense fear I started to feel every time I even thought about going outside. I didn't know if it was about the giant wolves that could bring me to my final death, or if it was going to school and seeing Christian. If I had to sit and listen to his internal agonizing ramblings, that would have been devastating. Paired with my own pain would have made living even more unbearable than it already was.

I supposed that sitting there along could have been less agonizing if I had stopped thinking of Christian for a while. That seemed like an easier task in theory than reality. His expression was seared into my perfect vampire memory and it played over and over in my mind. The way his green eyes lost a bit of their glow and all the color left his face when I told him I didn't care. I poured over every detail of that day and couldn't help but feel drained from the emotional overload.

Suddenly there was a knock at my door that shocked me out of my reverie. It was Carlisle. Honestly, I was quite surprised that he hadn't come to me sooner, I mean, I was skipping school after all. Not wanting to be bothered I decided not to say anything. I figured if he really wanted to talk to me then he would come in anyway, which he did. I picked from his thoughts that it was Esme who convinced him to let me stay home from school for a while. After my incident with Leah in the woods, they didn't even know about what happened between Christian and I, she thought it would be ok to let me stay home. Esme had been calling me in sick. Wonderful!

"Cadence?" he started hesitantly. "Hun, can I talk to you?"

Again, I didn't answer. Instead I just sat up on the couch and gave him a weary but painful look.

"Cadence, I know you have been through some really hard events as of late, but I honestly must say that this isn't characteristic of you. There must be something else going on. Do you want to talk about it?" Carlisle said as he walked across the room and sat beside me on the black leather sofa.

Honestly, wasn't he getting my awkward silent treatment? I didn't want to talk. To drive the point home I turned my head to look at him in a lazy way while my head drooped like a rag doll. Carlisle breathed loudly, as if he needed to, but I know he did it to serve his point.

"This can't be about Leah. Is it about that boy from school? Christian?" Carlisle went on.

Slumping over to my side like a little child being forced to do something they didn't want to do I buried my face into the throw pillow beside me. Why did he have to say his name?

"Cadence! Did something happen that you didn't tell us about? You know you can talk to us!" Carlisle said.

He used the plural sense and I knew he was referring to himself and Esme, or maybe even the entire family. I surely didn't want another family sit down. At that I decided to turn my head so that I was still lying on the pillow but my face was now visible. "Alice didn't tell you?" I asked brokenly.

"No, she didn't," he said, looking down. "I know she was looking for any decisions made by you, so if your decisions triggered something then perhaps she found it too personal to share."

I looked up at him then. For the first time I could see the real concern on his face. I mean, I heard it in his voice, but seeing it on his face started to thaw my icy resolve. I decided to tell him everything, so I poured out every detail of my last day at school, being the most specific about my conversation with Christian outside of the cafeteria. Brushing briefly over the Leah incident I finished at my bursting through the front door. When I finished I was staring at the floor blankly. Telling the story took a lot out of me, more than I could have imagined. My face contorted awkwardly from the heart wrenching memory I was reliving there with my new adopted father.

He nodded in understanding as we sat there silently. We sat there for some time, and the silence was getting awkward, before Carlisle spoke. "Everything is starting to make more sense. I feel horrible for not seeing it sooner. I do understand now what you meant when you told Alice that nothing had changed. It was her vision of him. Though you tried to stay away from this Christian, her vision of him hadn't changed. Your actions hadn't changed the outcome. I definitely understand why you've locked yourself in your room all this time," he paused awkwardly. "You must know that you can't stay in here forever. You're going to have to face him."

I started to speak in protest before Carlisle quickly cut me off. "It's not that you have to talk to him and befriend him if you choose not to, but you have to go to school and stop hiding from him."

I scrunched my nose in mock protest. There wasn't anything left for me to say and I knew it was futile. There was no arguing with Carlisle and he would never allow me to stay home, appearances and all. I huffed and just gave him my best exasperated look. "I will go, but I won't like it!" I said glumly.

School came entirely too fast the next day. I wished the car ride had somehow been dragged out to last an eternity. Surely I didn't want to get to school in a hurry and I wasn't looking forward to getting out of Edward's car. He drove me to school every morning, much as he had today, and now his fast driving frightened me the way it did a mortal. It wasn't the speed I was afraid of, it was the knowledge that I was going to be confronted with my fears. I wanted to break down, but I certainly didn't want to do it in front of Christian.

We had been sitting in front of the school for 15 minutes now as I procrastinated getting out of the car. Edward had been sitting there the entire time listening to my internal dialogue and I was surprised that he hadn't kicked me out of the car sooner. I swear it was times like these when I just adored Edward. Here he was, being forced to listen to everyone else's problems, even when he wasn't even asked. Being the honorable gentleman he is, he takes it all in in silence. I swear, if it was me I probably would have become a hermit after the first few days.

"Ahem," his cough startled me and I turned quickly to look at him. "As much as I honestly don't mind listening to you and being here for you, I think it might be time for you to go to class."

I sighed and turned to look out my passenger window once more. "I'm scared," I said to Edward. "I mean, I don't know what to do about Christian. All this time I've been locked in my room and I haven't been able to think of anything to say, or do for that matter. I'm scared of going in there and messing something up," I finished as I looked at him.

Edward didn't talk for a moment, instead he looked at me before he finally spoke. "You mean you're scared of messing up his life." It wasn't a question, he said it more matter of factly. I just looked at him. "Cadence, you have to know that you can't mess up his life, or rather you can't affect him any more than you already have."

"What? So you don't think that him finding out what we are and the possibility of him becoming one of his against his will could mess it up, or affect him?" I blurted with mild annoyance. "Sorry Edward. I didn't mean for it to come out that way!"

"Cadence, there is of one thing in this world that I am certain. Your hearts have chosen each other, and no matter what happens from here, it will all have a purpose. Your actions and choices will lead the both of you to where you need to be," he said.

I took in a large breath and looked Edward square in his eyes. His gaze didn't betray him and I knew that he truly believed what he was telling me, and I didn't even have to read his mind. Confidence rolled over me and I quickly picked up my bag before another dark cloud could rain on my parade. "Ok," I said in a huff as I kissed Edward on his cheek and quickly stepped out of his black Aston Martin.

I don't know how I hadn't heard it, but the moment I closed the car door and turned around, I bumped straight into Christian. I suppose my excessive worrying had tuned out all of the sounds around me, including his internal voice. A vampire's hearing can pick up voices from farther distances, and I had been hearing the voices of kids as they were all exiting their cars and walking into the school for their first class of the day. I had tuned them all out while I sat worrying in the car, so I must have been tuning out Christian as well.

My eyes widened as I looked up at him and I could see the shock on his face. _She's here, she's finally back_, he thought to himself. "Christian," was all I could force from my lips.

"Hi," he said after a long pause. His green eyes glistened in a very contradictory way than they had the last time I saw him.

"Um, it's nice to see you?" I don't know why, but it came out as a question. I mean, why would I be asking that?

_She doesn't wanna see me. That's fine, it doesn't matter anymore._ His thoughts hit me hard. What does he mean it doesn't matter anymore? I mean, I figured that there was no way our last conversation had ended well, which was exactly what I wanted, but what did it mean? There was something in his thoughts that I couldn't quite pick out and it was bothering me. But, why? Why was it bothering me so much? Clearly he was doing exactly what I wanted him to do, but for some reason, it hurt more than I thought it would.

My gaze turned steely and I had to fight the urge to ask him about his unspoken words. Instead I didn't say anything, and I didn't want to hear anything from him either. Quickly, I side stepped around him and walked away from Christian.


	9. Chapter 9

**NOTE ::** I do not claim to be an amazing writer, just that I enjoy it. Please feel free to leave comments and reviews as long as they are kind and/or constructive! I do love to hear what you think!

* * *

**Forever Mine - Chapter 9**

It was time for second period, Government class, and I wasn't looking forward to it. I had been stewing over the awkward thoughts I had gotten from Christian, and I still couldn't figure out the puzzle. What did he mean by it not mattering anymore? Honestly, it was very disconcerting that he thought I didn't want to see him. I knew that I wanted him to think that, but it wasn't true, and now knowing that he actually did think it tore my heart in two. I loved seeing him and the way his sandy blonde hair flopped with ease over the brim of his glasses and shaded his green eyes. There wasn't a moment that went by when I didn't wish that I could see him.

I was sitting in my usual place in Government class and pretending to write in my notebook when Christian stumbled in and quickly took his seat beside me. He was thinking about the assignment he had just received in his Computers class, which was of no concern to me. I really wanted to know more about something that would give away his earlier ramblings, but he wasn't thinking about anything that gave it away. Suddenly I felt my equilibrium shift and I started to tilt. I was so focused on listening to his thoughts that I didn't even notice I had begun to lean to my right, in his direction. The bell rang out a shrill cry and startled me so hard I almost fell out of my seat and onto Christian. I looked up at him to find him staring back at me with a curious expression on his face. He didn't say anything, and though his thoughts briefly flickered to a wondering question about me, he didn't give me a second thought and went on about his business.

"Today is the day everyone has been waiting for, starting our group projects," the teacher broke into my reflections.

My head jerked up and I couldn't believe it. What day was it? There was no way that the group projects were here already. I could have sworn they were next week. This project was going to be assigned partners, and I had planned on playing hooky from the entire thing so I wouldn't have to deal with being paired with anyone. I guess I had used up all of my Get-Out-of-Jail-Free-Cards in the past 10 days and there certainly was no way I was going to be able to get out of this one. I looked around the class from student to student and wondered who I would be partnered with.

The teacher started calling out names in pairs of two. "Cadence!" he called finally. My worrying stopped momentarily as my fake breath caught in my throat. I looked up at the teacher waiting for his response. It seemed like forever before he continued to say, "Your partner will be Christian."

Oh no! No, no, no, no, no! This could be the demise of everything that I've worked for. Slowly I turned to look at Christian and couldn't help but feel a pang where my heart sat in my chest. It would have stopped if it was still beating, but I didn't want him to see that. In a sense, I was happy to be paired with him, but I knew deep down that this was going to be bad. The shock on his face was priceless and for once I can honestly say that he had no internal dialogue. It took everything I had in me not to smile at him as his cheeks turned that rosy red they always did. It had been a long time since I had been near him and those rosy cheeks, and the monster inside of me roared a harried cry and I, accidentally I must say, crushed a metal bar on the side of my desk. Hopefully no one had seen that. There was something there in his thoughts finally that I wished I hadn't picked up on, but I did and it brought up the corners of my mouth into a smile after all. He really did want to work with me, even though his heart ached. Wait, what? Underneath it all, I came to realize that it wasn't me his heart was aching for, but for someone else. He worried about what they would think about him working with the supposed best looking girl in all of Forks High. Someone else? Yes, there was someone else. I mean, come on, I had only been gone for 10 days and there was already someone else? Christian didn't think about the details and so I didn't know who this someone was and how this had happened. My heart began to pang and I wanted to rip it out of my chest, because it felt like it was already being wrenched from my body as it was.

As I was pondering this dilemma, everyone had already begun to move around the room and partners shoved their desks together. Since Christian and I already sat next to each other, neither one of us needed to move, and honestly there was a wide birth around us as other class mates made a noticeable effort to sit away from us. That was ridiculous.

Christian and I discussed what we would do for our Government project, well actually he talked and I gave one worded answers. Those single words were the only thing I could get out since my face was so tight with horror and outrage. The incessant non-stop of his thoughts and my worries were beginning to get to me and I wondered what Alice would say to me now. _Nothing has changed_, her voiced played over and over again in my mind. Now I wondered if she still saw that.

I stopped and thought for a moment. Christian did still want to work with me, that thought alone eased my tension slightly. Still, I couldn't help but think that he was worried about what this new person in his life would think. So Christian still had feelings for me, however our last conversation must have made him try to move on. That was the only thing I could think of when Christian's voice broke into my logic.

"Huh?" I responded.

"Do you think we should do our project on the branches of our Federal Government? Specifically the Judicial Branch," he started slowly and ended matter of fact-ly.

"Umm," I wasn't sure what to say next and kept looking between my text book and Christian for several seconds. "You want us to do our project on the Judicial Branch of our Federal Government?" it came out more as a question than I had intended.

Christian looked at me for a long moment as he wondered what was bothering me. "Yeah," he finally said as he continued to inspect my expression. "I kind of want to be a Lawyer some day, so I figured that looking more into the Judicial system would give me more insight into legal cases."

He must have seen some look in my face, because he quickly followed it up with, "What?"

I quickly looked away from him. "Nothing," I started. "I think that's really great! I don't mind if we choose the Judicial Branch." Looking up at him once more, I found him staring at me with a sort of wonder of his own.

I didn't have to ask him in order to find out what he was thinking. He was suddenly astonished with what I had said. _She thinks it's great? Usually when I tell people I want to be a Lawyer they look at me as if I'm insane. A boy who's been held back and two years behind in school wants to be a Lawyer, it makes everyone laugh at me. This girl really is something else. I still don't understand why she's so nice one day, and then so caddy and rude the next._

Great, he found me to be caddy and rude. Me, caddy, who would have thought? I was anything but caddy, but I suppose he wouldn't know that, because he didn't know the reasons behind my words and actions. I didn't want to think about it.

Christian continued to talk about the project and even started outlining what we could write about until the bell rang. Not saying much I gathered my things and slowly got up from my seat. I couldn't help but glance at Christian once more. He was too busy gathering his own things to notice me looking at him. Things were going to get much more difficult for sure as this project went on, but I didn't want that to start today. I decided to leave it at that and head on over to my next class.

It of course wasn't long before I was finished in Geometry and made my way to lunch. There was no way I wanted to be bothered with food at a time like this. Deciding against my prop I headed straight outside to my lonely picnic bench. It wasn't raining outside, though I could clearly smell the fresh scent of a wet afternoon on the blowing breeze. Instead it was just a cloudy, grey afternoon with no sun in sight. Hell, it was the only reason I was sitting outside today anyway. To occupy myself, I pulled out a book we had been reading in English class. It was a compilation of poems. I liked reading it as it always soothed me to read the melodic rhythms and rhyming words.

I meet thy pensive, moonlight face;  
Thy thrilling voice I hear;  
And former hours and scenes retrace,  
Too fleeting, and too dear!

Then sighs and tears flow fast and free,  
Though none is nigh to share;  
And life has nought beside for me  
So sweet as this despair.

There are crush'd hearts that will not break;  
And mine, methinks, is one;  
Or thus I should not weep and wake,  
And thou to slumber gone.

I little thought it thus could be  
In days more sad and fair  
That earth could have a place for me,  
And thou no longer there.

Yet death cannot our hearts divide,  
Or make thee less my own:  
Twere sweeter sleeping at thy side  
Than watching here alone.

Yet never, never can we part,  
While Memory holds her reign:  
Thine, thine is still this wither'd heart,  
Till we shall meet again.

-Henry Francis Lyte

Great, another love poem of loss and heartache. I swear there was no way of getting from it all.

Now, I don't know why I looked up at that exact moment. Perhaps there was something that caught my eye in my periphery, or maybe it was some unspoken instinct. I like to think it could have been a healthy mix of the two, though it ended up shattering my heart and my desires. I looked up to find Christian hugging a perky blonde. My eyes widened ever so slightly, probably not visible to the human eye, but it was enough for any vampire to see.

As Christian pulled away I saw her face. She looked extremely familiar. I recognized her then as BeccaWestchester. She was a junior, head cheerleader and student council president. She even happened to be in my 4th period Art and 5th period Gym classes. Of course Christian was in Gym as well. Now, I knew for a fact that this had not been going on before I took my mini vacation. Becca was popular, everything Christian was not, and she never showed any interest in him. Why was she hugging him now all of a sudden?

They started to pull away from their awkwardly long embrace and I looked away and peered at them from the corner of my eyes so as not to look too suspicious. Suddenly I saw it. Becca looked at me with a weird smirk on her face. Was she trying to do this to spite me? I didn't even know the girl. I wanted to turn on my power and listen to what she was thinking when I realized that I couldn't even hear Christian. If I couldn't hear him then I was too far away to get any "reception" from Becca either. This was something I was going to have to figure out later.


	10. Chapter 10

**NOTE ::** I do not claim to be an amazing writer, just that I enjoy it. Please feel free to leave comments and reviews as long as they are kind and/or constructive! I do love to hear what you think!

* * *

**Forever Mine - Chapter 10**

I tried my hardest to sit through lunch without looking at Christian, and therefor Becca by default. I mean, I did look, but I had my ways of not looking so obvious. It was times like these when I was beyond thankful for my hightened vampire senses, though I wished the hightened emotions would take a hike.

Little Miss Becca was all over Christian. From reading his lips it seemed he was talking about math problems, he had Geometry for 4th period and he was trying to finish up his homework, but Becca was giggling up a storm and flipping her long honey blonde locks. Struggling with myself as it was I saw her lean toward him and gently stroke his arm. Then I felt it, an anger unlike anything I had ever felt before as heat coursed through my body, starting in my chest and spreading up to the tip of my head and out to the tip of my fingers. She was touching him and suddenly I felt like it was my duty to protect what was mine. My vision blurred and tinged with a red veil as all I wanted to do was rip Becca's throut from her body and let the blood course down my hand. The memory of the sweet smelling aroma of human blood filled my mind and the inner monster I had controlled for so long started to roar it's ugly head within me. My eyes widened as I became concsious of what was really going on. I scanned the crowd of students inside the cafeteria to be certain noone was watching me, not even Becca was looking at me, and so I darted into the woods behind me. I wasn't going as fast as I could, but faster than any human should be able to.

I hunted. It wasn't long before I found a small animal that I could take my rage and frustration out on, even though it hurt me to do so. I didn't like killing in this way, only for survival, but this was not survival. This was pure anger and hatred. I didn't understand where these emotions were coming from. There was a part of me that always wanted Christian to be happy in a normal human life, and I suppose heartache would be part of that equation as well, but I hadn't really thought about what it would really feel like. In hindsight, I also didn't think about how my talking to him would have looked to others and how they might try to counteract. I suspected that Becca didn't care about Christian and she had some sort of hidden agenda, but was it because of me? Honestly, I didn't care why she was doing it, only that she was, and I wouldn't stand for it.

After clearing my head, which only took about 30 minutes, I made my way back to Forks High. Lunch was undoubtedly over and I gave myself a once over before heading on my way to class. Surprisingly my clothes were clean and unwrinkled, noone would ever know what I was up to. Perfectly so, it was time for Art class, with little miss Becca Westchester and I was ready. I paused at the door and took a deep breath. It's not that I needed the extra oxygen or anything since I didn't really breath, but for some reason it always helped to center me. I'd always suspected that it was something left behind by my human life, but that seemed like ages ago now. I reached out for the door and opened it and walked into the room with my head up. Noone knew what internal emotions I was feelings, and I wasn't going to let that show now, especially not for Becca. I didn't even look around the room but instead walked straight for my table, and there she was, sitting at my table across from my very seat. Let me just say that the art room is large, so large in fact that there are 10 spacious square tables within it. Each table is lined up in 5 rows of 2. There also happens to be a large open space on the far wall for easels and props, followed by sinks and storage areas. Now, at each table there is seating for four, yes four, two on each side of the table with enough room for large pieces of paper and project materials. Being that this is a small school and all, there are never more than 20 people in a class, and in case you haven't done the math, this class seats 40. So, most of the time there are about 2 people to a table, more if there are good friends together in the class. Becca usually sat at a table in the front of the class with 2 of her cheerleader flock, but today she and her robot sheep were sitting in the back, at my table, and they left my seat open for me. Hurridly, I tried to scout out another chair hopefully at a table that was deserted, but when the cheer squad left their table someone else populated it. I huffed and decided to take a seat at the table with Becca. Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer? Yeah, something like that!

Becca and her friends looked up at me and smiled like Stepford wives, totally creepy. "Hi, Cadence!" she cruned.

I saw right through her act. No, I wasn't listening to her, yet, but I could just tell she was faking by the way her eyes narrowed ever so slightly when she spoke my name. I didn't answer her, instead I slowly sat down and placed my bag on the floor beside me, never taking my eyes off of Becca. She didn't even flinch. What a brave soul! I wonder if she would be this brave in front of her friends if she knew what I really was.

Finally realizing that I wasn't going to give her a dignified response, Becca huffed and started to draw some more before she spoke again. Her robots followed suit and continued on their work as well. Becca didn't even look up from her paper when she finally said, "You know Cadence, it's sad that we haven't met before now, and that's my fault. I've been so busy with Cheeleading and Student Council. Oh, and did you know I also volunteer at the local humane society? It's very rewarding work you know. I just love being active, and Christian, my new boyfriend, he loves that about me to!" I flinched at his name, and at that sentence she stopped at looked up at me.

There was something that sparked in her eyes and I could see it. That notion made me turn on my power and listen to her thoughts.

_What does she think of me dating Christian now? Did she even react to his name? I know they were dating, I mean I saw them together at lunch a few times, and that one time looked like they were breaking up. I don't know what a Cullen would want with that geek anyway, but he's mine now. I'm the best at this school, not some Cullen freak who doesn't even have friends, ME! If he's good enough for her then he's certainly going to be perfect next to me. Who cares about some Cullen. She's going to be jealous of me by the time I'm done with her!_

What? I couldn't believe the lengths this girl was going to to be some idea of perfect? I just don't understand what I had to do with all of this, let alone Christian. She was using him. Using him to get to me and to form some idea of perfection, and I wasn't going to have it. If it's war she wants, then it's a war she will get!

"Look here Becca," I started as I narrowed my eyes at her. "I don't know what it is you're trying to pull here, but it won't work on me." Ok I knew what she was pulling, but I couldn't let her know that. "I see right through your little act to befriend me, but I don't need any friends, so just leave me alone, ok?" At that I could see her steaming, so I got up and walked out of class.

_How dare she!? If it's war she wants then it's war she'll get._ I heard from Becca's thoughts.

Bring it on, girl.


	11. Chapter 11

******NOTE ::** I do not claim to be an amazing writer, just that I enjoy it. Please feel free to leave comments and reviews as long as they are kind and/or constructive! I do love to hear what you think!

* * *

**Forever Mine - Chapter 11**

Thankfully time didn't pass slowly for me today and I managed to keep myself busy for the remainder of the period in the school library. Fifth period was fast approaching and that meant gym class, also with Ms. Becca.

Long gone were the days of sitting out of the physical activity, so I changed my clothes in preparation for what might become a fight or flight moment. I mean, truly, either something inside of me would allow me to leave Christian with Becca for what I believed was the best life he could live, or I would sink my teeth in and fight for what I believed was mine, in both the literal and non literal sense. I, for one, was preparing myself for all the possibilities.

Becca was nowhere to be seen in the locker room and I wondered if she was running late. I didn't know why I was wondering, because in all honesty I would love nothing more than for her to just disappear. My mind started to wander on to all the ways I could make that happen before I shook myself mentally. Oh well, I thought, hopefully her absense would allow me to have a moment alone with Christian. I slowly walked out of the girl's locker room and spotted Christian almost immediately. It wasn't hard anymore to follow the sound of his thoughts. What immediately caught my eye and gave him away was the roaring laughter that came from Becca, who stood beside Christian, and her Cheerleader heard and football jugheads. There goes my chance for a moment alone.

What was I thinking? I was a vampire for crying out loud, I was more advanced than these teens in every sense of the word, and here I was lowering myself to mundane high school ridiculousness. I'd already gone through high school once, sort of, and there was no way I actually wanted to do this all over again. It was then that I realized that I would go through high school far to many more times than I would like. Huffing, I centered myself, got back to MY reality, and walked over to the so-called cool kids.

Neither Becca nor Christian had seen me, and I could hear from Christian's thoughts that he was so giddy with teenage joy at being around Becca and her friends that he probably wouldn't even have known if the pope had walked into the gym. I made my way around the goon squad and creeped up behind Christian and Becca. Man, these kids were really self absorbed and hadn't noticed me until I grabbed Christian by the arm and pulled him from the crowd.

"Cadence?" he cried out in bewilderment. "What are you doing?"

I gave him my best big eyed look and smiled from ear to ear. "Saving you of course," I said matter of factly but didn't give him a chance to protest because boy did he want to.

He kept galncing over his shoulder and was still thinking of the crowd as I tried to keep his attention. I was losing him, and losing him fast to Becca and the robots, so I had to think quickly. Inching closer toward Christian I closed the gap between us. I placed my right hand on his arm sleeve and gazed meaningfully in his eyes. Finally, Christian was speechless and he had no internal dialogue once again. I had caught him completely off guard. Suddenly I could feel his heart beat quicken and almost skip a beat. For a moment I forgot what I was doing and lost myself in the still of his green eyes. They reminded me of the forest that I liked to run through at night outside the Cullen's home. I had to shake myself again and get back on track. Letting go of his arm, I took a step back without breaking his gaze. I knew now I had his full, undivided attention without any resentment in his thoughts and I took advantage of it.

"So, umm I wanted to see if you would meet me in the library after school today so we can talk about our project?" I asked sweetly.

"Well?" he started and I saw him begin to turn his head slightly as he was thinking of Becca again.

For the first time since grabbing Christian I noticed Becca and she was not happy that I was talking to him. Ever so gently I placed my index finger on his chin and guided his face back to mine before I lost his focus. "Please?" I pried as I looked him in the eye once more. "I'm eager to get started on your idea!" I finished. A little flattery never hurt anyone!

I felt a small electric charge as I touched him that felt similar of static to a human, but I knew it was much more. Besides the fact that my cold skin shocked him, I knew Christian felt the charge as well. It was like a small firework. "Please?" I asked once more, more quietly.

"Of course," he said hesitantly. He was struggling internally about what the right decision was.

_There's nothing wrong with going to work on a project with your partner, in the library of all places. Besides, Becca will be at Cheerleading practice anyway and it will be the perfect time to work on it. Then why do I feel so bad about it? Maybe it's because of that way she looks into my eyes like she's looking into my soul. Maybe it's the way she held my arm like she wanted to hold me forever. Oh, who am I kidding? It definitely has everything to do wih the fact that when I look into her eyes, I want to stay there forever. That when I feel her touch I feel fireworks and wish I could feel that way forever. There is something about this girl that is a mystery to me and I love every part of it even though every part of me says I shouldn't. I also don't think that Becca is really into me. I don't feel that same connection with Becca that I do with Cadence. This is confusing!_

Just then Becca walked up and took Christian's arm, breaking him from his reverie. I wanted to hear more, he was finally starting to think about what was really going on between him and Becca and I wanted to know her intentions. "Christian? What are you guys talking about?" she started in her completely fake, 'I'm so interested' voice again.

"Um," Christian had a hard time looking away from me and focusing back on Becca. "We were talking about meeting in the library for our government project after school!"

I felt bewildered at the swell of emotions I began to feel in those few moments. He still cared for me after everything I've put him through. My behavior sure seemed erratic and confusing to him, but he wanted to be with me forever, in a sense. He was loyal to his feelings and to his desires and he knew what he wanted in life, even if I seemed like I didn't. He didn't want Becca, not truly. Sure she lured him with her popularity and over abundance of friends, but I don't believe he would have went to her had I not pushed him away. She was just the next best thing, or the next girl.

Wait, I thought suddenly. That was it. Becca didn't start talking to Christian until after I pushed him away. It wasn't anything to do with Christian, it was me. I was the reason she had latched on to him. I had picked up on something earlier in art class but hadn't put two and two together. The constant stalking today and wanting to be my friend? Becca was student council president and Cheerleading captain, the kind of person that strives for the best. Why would she be interested in a guy who was held back twice, a loser by their stereotypical definition? It was me! The Cullens, of course, had a reputation for being the best at whatever they did. Hell, on my first day of school I was referred to as freakishly beautiful all day. Until I had shown up that day, the Cullens had long graduated and Little Miss Becca had been in that top spot, but like I said, until I showed up. Of course I didn't try out for extracurricular activities, but Becca felt threatened by me. If I was interested in Christian then there must have been something special about him and she wanted to take the one thing she thought I had. Becca wanted nothing more than to knock me down, to be better than me. Already she had expressed that she was under the assumption that Christian and I had been dating. Once she thought I was out of the picture she preyed on him, pouncing like a hungry lion. Wow! I didin't understand why I hadn't seen it sooner. I should have known from the moment I laid my eyes on her in the cafeteria. I was losing my instinct! Either way, there was no way I was prepared to let it happen. After hearing Christian's thoughts today and looking into his eyes, I knew it had to be different. The shock I felt when I touched his cheek told me that this was right! There was no way I was going to allow Becca to toy with Christian this way. He was not some status symbol just because I had shown interest in him, he was a person and I loved him.

Oh my goodness, had I just finally admitted that? It was a strange thing to think about, love. I mean, I knew that I cared for him deeply in a way that showed I loved him and that was why I wanted to let him go, but it was still a strange idea. I never allowed myself to fantasize about what it might be like to spend my life with Christian because I knew that that would only have made leaving him that much harder. It was always drilled into my head that being what we are, loving a human would only lead to disaster, that it would never work. The urges we felt would be too hard to control and letting them know is forbidden. What had happened between Edward and Bella had almost lead to devastating events and a sister I never knew, Irina, was destroyed because of love and loss. Now it was a strange feeling to really think of love in a good way that it almost warmed my heart inside, almost.

Finally the gym teacher called out to the class and wanted to start today's activities. Today was a running day in gym class. One week out of every month we worked on our endurance running and fitness cardio. Geez! I hated running days. Everyone exerted themselves because they wanted to look good in front of their peers, and those who didn't were already outsiders anyway. I, on the other hand, had the opposite problem on such days. While everyone pushed themselves to make the best running time, I was trying my best not to. I always tried my best to stay in the middle of the pack, after all I did appear to be physically fit with my vampire perfection and I figured average is still good.

All the students clustered around the make shift starting line against the wall on the far side of the gym. Becca had toted Christian off to the front with the rest of her posse like he was some sort of pet. He wasn't thinking about me anymore and instead was focusing on the run. I on the other hand couldn't help but to continue to think about him.

"Ok class!" the teacher started and I quickly drowned him out. We'd been doing this every month so I still didn't understand why we needed instructions. He blew his whistle though and we were off. I drudged forward and started running.

The day had finally ended, and honestly I didn't know what to feel anymore. Since my absence, however, Becca had managed to weasel her way in as Christian's partner in science class. The particularly shocking part though was that she wasn't originally in our science class. I mean, she was a junior and this was a freshman science class, so how in the world had she managed to get in? I didn't know and decided that I didn't care about the specifics anymore.

I was assigned to a new lab table at the back of the class, by myself no less. This I was actually quite pleased with. I didn't have to pretend to be listening to anyone while I spied on Christian and Becca. Well, I wouldn't call it spying! I would call it, ok it was spying. This was all getting out of hand and becoming more of a problem than I would have liked. I caught Christian thinking of me between his assignment questions and he often tried to steal a glance at me. Little Miss Becca, however, was right there to catch his attention whenever she noticed he started to turn his head in my direction. Tramp! It was an interesting hour none the less.

Now that school was over I was making my way toward the library to meet up with Christian. Just as I was beginning to turn to grab one of the heavy library doors, I heard an exasperated thought from Christian briefly. He was at the end of the hall with Becca. They hadn't spotted me, so I leaned against an adjacent locker in an attempt to blend among the remaining students. Becca was holding Christian close to her by the front of his shirt while I realized Christian seemed a little disinterested. He was fidgeting like he does when he's overwhelmed and Becca was just yammering away.

"I really think you should come by my house today after I get done with practice. I can tutor you on the science stuff some more and then maybe you can stay for dinner," she was going on. That was it, Becca was a student aid and was partnered with Christian because he needed tutoring. The low down weasel.

"Ugh, I don't know Becca," Christian started. "I really need to work on this government project with Cadence today so I can pass this class! You know government and science are my worst subjects and I don't wanna be held back again." Becca seemed to develop a nervous twitch in that instant at the mention of my name, but she was good. I could sense her displeasure but she never let it show to Christian. She kept her faker-than-fake smile plastered on her face.

I fought the urge to walk over there in that moment to further bother her, but I quickly decided that I would win this war my own way, subtle. Their conversation was coming to a close, so I decided to hurry up and make my way into the library. I wanted to be sitting there waiting for him when he came in. Unpacking my bag with ease, I pulled out my government book and notepad and sat down as if I had been waiting for some time. Just then Christian entered, looking around the tiny library. His thoughts seemed eager and suddenly jumped to excitement. I looked up in that instant and his heart began to flutter at an uneven pace while we smiled simultaneously. This boy never felt more like the center of my world than he did in that moment. I had changed him forever and he had changed me for an eternity.

I reached my hand up and subtly waved him over to the table I had selected for us. Of course he stumbled as he made his way over and nervously placed his backpack on the chair next to the one he had chosen to sit in, across from me of course. Pretending not to see him stumble I looked down at my book and acted as if I was reading. I wanted so badly to just blurt out every stupid thing that was swimming around in my mind, and I fought hard not to give in. One thought did enter my mind briefly and I stifled a chuckle to myself. Alice had never been more right, and from now on I would never bet against her again!


	12. Chapter 12

**NOTE ::** I do not claim to be an amazing writer, just that I enjoy it. Please feel free to leave comments and reviews as long as they are kind and/or constructive! I do love to hear what you think!

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**Forever Mine - Chapter 12**

"So," Christian started as he opened his government book. "Have you thought about the assignment at all?"

Wow, I was stunned and amazed at what was going on before me. The words in Christian's head and the ones coming out of his mouth were in complete opposition. I couldn't help but sit there and stare at him for a moment as I listened to his thoughts. He was so deep in thought that he was looking down at his book and didn't notice me.

_I don't know what's going on with Becca, I mean she was cool before but today she just seems extra clingy. I don't get it!? I don't know why she is all over me today! At lunch she just kept touching me and then she was locking her arms in mine through the halls and at gym class. I mean, she's never even stood that close to me before, like she was in the hall just now. And Cadence! _ My heart almost beat again at the sound of my name. _She's never showed me any attention before today and suddenly she's being so nice. It may be because we were partnered and she's just trying to be nice since we have to work together, but then again she didn't have to smile so hard at me. I don't know! I do like it, I've never gotten this much attention from girls before, and two really beautiful girls at that! But one just feels more right than the other!_

Suddenly Christian's thoughts shifted and I realized he was looking at me. My eyes focused then and Christian was staring at me with this strange look on his face. I had zoned out and lost myself in his thoughts and my expression had changed. My eyes were squinting and my eyebrows had furrowed from listening so intently, and I could tell in his thoughts that I looked as you sometimes do when you're trying to see something far away.

"What?" Christian asked suspiciously.

"Nothing," I mumbled quickly. "It's just," I trailed off. This was probably the only time I would get to really talk to Christian candidly, so I took a leap and said what I was thinking. "Why are you dating Becca?" That was all I said while I looked him straight in the face and plopped my elbows down on the table. It was a sort of strange question to ask the way I did, but I didn't know how else to say it.

"What? What do you mean? Becca and I aren't dating, I mean, she never said we were!" Christian sputtered out.

"Well, it looks to me like Becca is very interested in you," I said suddenly. Quickly, I realized that Christian took it a little differently than I had meant it, and I wondered if I had pushed the subject a little further away from my favor.

"Really?" he asked slowly. "I mean, she was acting kinda strange today, but that's not how she usually is." Christian's mind started wondering about other moments they had spent together.

He thought about being at Becca's house as she tutored him in science. She never touched him, and barely even offered him anything to drink, but she had smiled quite a bit. From his thoughts I figured out that it was only enough to keep him interested, but he hadn't seen that far into her facade. He then thought about the times they had had lunch together at school. Becca only ever sat with him for five to ten minutes at a time and always seemed to excuse herself from the table and never returned. It seemed a far cry from how she acted today. Christian looked up at me then with more of that puzzled look in his eyes. "Do you really think so?" he asked me and his thoughts perked up at the thought of maybe one really attractive girl actually taking a liking to him.

"Uh, um?" I stuttered, trying desperately to figure out what to say to him that would make him steer away from Becca but not hurting his feelings and steering him away from me as well. "Maybe in a weird 'I want you to be one of my robot sheep and do what I say' sorta ways." I couldn't believe I had just said that, but I flashed him a joking smile and he started to smile back.

It was his turn to stare and I didn't have to ask but I did it anyway to keep up the pretenses. "What?"

"Did you know you have the most beautiful smile?" he blurted out. I was shocked because I didn't think he was actually going to say it.

Suddenly his eyes widened and he looked down at his book again trying to hide the blushing that suddenly came over him. There was no hiding it though as the sweet aroma of his blood pushed its way to the surface of his skin. I couldn't help but to inhale deeply for a moment. My eyes closed slightly as I breathed in his delicious scent while his head was still buried in his book. "Thanks," was all I managed to say as I tried to even out my voice. "You have beautiful eyes!" I choked out. It was true, but I only said it out loud to calm his nerves so he would stop blushing.

Christian and I worked on our project at the school library for about an hour before calling it quits. The following weeks went something like that day as well, with Becca trying to show off at lunch with Christian and then trying to be my friend in Art class. I tried my best to ignore her though and only gave her blank stares and one worded replies. She somehow had thought that she had won out over me and that I had given up on Christian, even though I was still meeting with him after school in the library. Christian and I had even started meeting on Thursday's at the small public library Forks had to offer, but I read in Christian's mind that Becca had no idea. He had started turning her down for tutoring lessons to meet up with me and she was none the wiser for it. He wasn't telling her that we were meeting together, and frankly I didn't care. I was happy that we were spending time together and our friendship was taking off. Conversation started coming easily between us and we joked with each other like childhood best friends. It was like everything in the world was coming in to place.

On the Thursday of the third week, I was meeting up with Christian at the public library and waited for him outside. As I sat on the steps, looking over my notes of the government project Christian and I had been working on, something red suddenly plopped down onto my papers. It was a heart. Not the kind of hearts my family and I were used to, this was a red generic heart shaped box. Chocolates! I was looking at a box of Valentine's Chocolates. I looked up to see Christian looking at me expectantly.

"Happy Valentine's Day?" he said with a questioning tone in his voice. He could see the expression on my face, which in his mind looked like severe shock and borderline disgust.

I quickly straightened out my features and stood up with my heart box in hand and smiled at him. "Thank you... so much!" Without thinking, I wrapped my arms around his neck and hugged him.

His thoughts started swimming about the scent of my hair and how cold my skin felt, but he didn't give it a second thought since I had been sitting outside in the cold weather. My thoughts also quickly turned to smells, but it wasn't the smell of his hair that had me entangled. I quickly let go and straighten my Gucci jacket with my free hand before looking him in the face again. "Thank you!" I exclaimed. "I... I forgot it was Valentine's Day!"

Why would I remember Valentine's Day? Everyone giving each other decapitated flowers that would just die in a few days, and confections that my kind couldn't eat in the generic shapes of things that I would much rather enjoy! It's not something most teens enjoy much, unless you have a significant other, and Christian and I weren't there yet! Christian looked at me a little stunned with a slight smirk on his face before sheepishly adding, "It's okay, you don't have to get me anything. I just wanted to be nice!"

"You didn't get Becca anything," I blurted. It was an observational statement more than a question and Christian just looked at me some more with his wide eyes peering behind his glasses! "I mean, I love it. Thank you!" I smiled coyly. "I just wish," I trailed off, an idea suddenly coming to me. My smile grew wider as the idea grew in my mind.

"Why are you smiling like that?" Christian asked. "You trailed off and now you just look a little creepy!" his eyes widened jokingly.

"Lets go!" I exclaimed as I picked up my things, grabbed Christian by the hand and pulled him out into the parking lot. "We're going somewhere!"

"Wait, what? What about the library? And where could we be going? There isn't anything for miles and I don't have a car yet, my mom dropped me off!" Christian began wildly.

I suddenly stopped short in the middle of the parking lot and turned so abruptly that Christian ran straight into me. The smile on my face quickly turned to laughter. "Can you keep a secret?" I whispered. I was sure he could keep it to anyone but a quarter of my family, but I was leading into something.

"Ok, now you're scaring me, Cady!" Christian said, using his new nickname for me. He said it like Katie, which I found a little cute.

"Ok," I started stealthily, looking around the parking lot as if I was searching for crazy people out to get us or something. I leaned in closer to him and whispered, "I know how to drive, and I have a car!"

Christian's eyes grew wide as I just continued to pull him to the back of the parking lot. I parked in the back in the hopes that people wouldn't notice me step out of my new white Mercedes Roadster. Letting go of Christian's hand, I stepped to my new car and leaned against it. "Are you serious?" Christian exclaimed. "This is your car? The Mercedes SLS AMG Roadster is your car? I mean I knew your family was rich and all, but this? You're only 15, how do you even have a driver's license?"

Of course I'd thought of what to say if this moment ever came up. I couldn't very well tell him that I had been 17 for 5 years now and already had a license before that big day that changed my life forever. Everyone at home had surprised me with a new car two months ago while I was still sulking over Christian. Of course it did cheer me up a little, even though I wasn't allowed to drive it to school. Alice and I broke it in by driving to Vancouver, Canada. We saw the VanDusen Botanical Gardens, the Lynn Canyon Park and the Queen Elizabeth Park, and went shopping of course. "Well, I'm from Alaska. In Alaska you can get your permit at 14. Now, I know I'm not supposed to drive on only a permit, but my family was busy today and let me drive to the library. They bought me this car to encourage me to pass my driver's test this summer."

Christian looked at me for a long moment. "Oh come on, I've been driving for years!" I exclaimed.

"Years? How many years?" Christian asked.

Oh crap! I wasn't supposed to pluralize that, but I had and now I had to back pedal. "Yeah, you see, my old family in Alaska taught me to drive when I was like 12. I only drove on their property, but I got really good before I got my permit."

"Right!" was all Christian could say.

"Oh, come one!" I muttered as I walked around to the driver's side of the car and got in.

I started the car by the time Christian decided to take my word for it and got in on the passenger side. "Where are we going?" he asked finally, buckling his seat belt while I backed out of my parking space and drove away from the library.

"We're going to Port Angeles!" I said.

"What! Why?"

"We're going shopping!" I smiled.

I drove the distance to Port Angeles and stopped caring about onlookers once we got outside of Forks. It didn't matter anymore if anyone saw me because they wouldn't know who I was or how old I had to be. Luckily, being a vampire allowed me to drive perfectly at slow human speeds, so it wasn't like I was getting pulled over. When we arrived I pulled in to the best Mens boutique I could find. Christian didn't know it yet, but I was going to give him the best makeover this small town had to offer.


	13. Chapter 13

**NOTE ::** I do not claim to be an amazing writer, just that I enjoy it. Please feel free to leave comments and reviews as long as they are kind and/or constructive! I do love to hear what you think!

* * *

**Forever Mine - Chapter 13**

Christian agreed to let me pick him up for school the next day. I made some excuse that I wanted to be sure he dressed himself properly in the clothes I had bought for him. In a sense, I suppose that was partly true, but I also wanted to see the look on Becca's face when I walked into school with Christian on my arm.

When Christian walked out of his house after I pulled up, it was apparent he followed my instruction to the T. While at the boutique, I had pulled several pieces for his wardrobe, but I made sure to hold up the pieces I thought he should wear to school today. Afterward, we went to a hair salon, where the stylist cut his hair and gave him specific instructions on how it was supposed to be styled with gel. I had to admit, he looked amazing.

"Cadence, I feel stupid!" Christian quickly exclaimed as he made his way into the passenger seat of my car.

Yes, he was a little overdressed for Forks High, but I couldn't stop my mouth from hanging open. He sat before me in a pair of dark wash designer jeans, a beautifully crafted designer sweater, topped with a dark black peacoat and large scarf. I, of course, had on my usual designer clothes, only I made sure to wear an extra special top I ordered online and had overnighted. Trust me, we were sure to get noticed. I know our goal as Cullen's was to blend, but to hell with it.

I did my best to assure Christian that he looked great, but he was still nervous. The car ride to school was eerily quiet, except the incessant inner ramblings of Christian in my own head, and I couldn't help but to steal glances at Christian every now and then. Of course I technically wasn't supposed to be driving to school, so I parked on the street a couple of blocks away and Christian and I walked the rest of the way. As we approached the school I quickly looped my arm in his. He looked down at me and was about to say something before we were suddenly enveloped in an explosion of gasps. I scanned the crowd's thoughts one at a time as we walked by. Most people were wondering what kind of scandal was going on because they had thought Christian was with Becca now. Others wondered how Christian managed to score a Cullen. Figures! My all time favorite came from a girl who was probably best described as the middle of the popularity totem, but had never really noticed Christian before, and now she thought he was totally hot. Of course!

It felt like an eternity before we made our way up to the main doors of the school when I spotted Becca and two of her main sheep, the ones who sit at our Art table. Sheep Number 1 pointed directly at Christian as her lips said, "Isn't that your... boy?" She completely paused in the middle of her sentence and I bet she didn't even know Christian's name. Becca's head spun around so quickly that I thought she might break her neck as her hair flipped and hit Sheep Number 2 right in the face. Of course, Becca's mouth dropped open instantly.

Becca didn't dare try to embarrass herself, so she didn't say a word as Christian and I passed her. Christian was more preoccupied with everyone staring to even notice her, and I flashed her the brightest smile I could. Continuing on, I lead Christian into school and walked with him to his locker. "Cady, I feel overdressed!" Christian turned to me.

I stroked his face and looked him in the eye. I could feel his heart beat through his skin as it slowed and he calmed. Breathing deeply for effect, I tried to calm him as well. "Christian, it's ok!" I smiled. "Not that you need all this stuff to be amazing, but you look it anyway! You are amazing!" I said, looking into his eyes.

I felt myself drowning in the love and warmth I could feel radiating from Christian. His green eyes were so open and inviting like the meadow in the woods. I lost myself in his thoughts and in my own reverie. "Wow," I cried out as I started to feel dizzy, but Christian didn't respond.

Suddenly I felt a haze take over me and everything around me faded. My surroundings changed and morphed into a different form that I didn't quite understand. I wasn't standing in the school hallway surrounded by students, and Christian wasn't in front of me anymore. I was surrounded by lush greenery and flowers and I knew I had seen this place before. The realization hit me that I was standing in the middle of the meadow in the woods, only this time it looked more like spring and the flowers had bloomed. This was impossible! How had I gone from the school hallway to the meadow? Did something happen to me and I didn't remember going to classes? But then how had I ended up in the meadow? Why was I there? My surroundings took on this dream like quality, where the trees were dark and eerie but a strange light shown down onto the meadow. My skin sparkled and gleamed in that magical way it did as I surveyed my hands before me.

"Cadence!" I heard someone say my name. Was there someone here with me? I hadn't seen anyone around. I whipped around and looked from side to side but I saw no one. Suddenly a dark figured appeared at the edge of the meadow straight across from me. They stood perfectly in the brush so I couldn't quite make them out.

"Who are you? Step out from the shadows," I yelled out to the figure.

Slowly the person walked forward until their face was lit by the sun. "Christian?" I asked surprised. "What's going on? How did we get here?"

There was something not right about Christian. Something really strange was going on. I was still wearing the same clothes I had worn to school, but Christian was dressed differently. He wore black jeans with a white t-shirt and a large black hooded jacket. His hood was pulled ominously over his face and he looked at me with a stoned expression. Nothing was right about Christian. His demeanor was all wrong. Usually Christian stood with a slight hunch and looked down while he hid his face from the people around him, especially me. Now he stood before me as straight as a board with his head held slightly forward with arrogance. Arrogance? I had never known Christian to be arrogant. Fear started to come over me slowly in an unexplainable way as what I was seeing didn't seem real. What was happening here?

"Christian?" I pleaded questioningly.

Christian stood before me, unwavering, and just stared. I didn't know what was happening and I couldn't shake this strange feeling I was having. It was as if what I was seeing was real yet not real at the same time. I didn't understand it. Suddenly, dark clouds rolled in over the meadow and everything got dark. Christian smiled eerily at me as he retreated back into the woods. "Wait, Christian! Christian?" I yelled as I ran forward toward him. Then, I was falling into darkness.

What was going on? Where was I? What was happening to me? Everything was completely dark around me. Wait, was that a light? It was a dim light and far in the distance, but it was there and it was getting brighter. The light enveloped me and blurred my vision. Slowly my surrounding came in to focus and all I could see was a white wall. What was a white wall doing in front of me. I turned my head from side to side and my eyes grew wide with shock as familiar brightly colored objects came in to view. This white wall in front of me was not a wall at all, but a ceiling. I was laying in a bed looking up at a ceiling. The horribly shocking part was that I was not laying in just any bed, I was laying in my bed. By my bed, I meant the bed that had belonged to me when I lived with my mother in Alaska. My human bed!

I rose up slowly and examined my room some more. The morning light shown in my window and everything was how I had left it. I looked down at myself and took in what I was wearing. My favorite pair of pajamas. They were pink flannel pants with red hearts all over them and a matching red tank with a big pink heart on the front. A little smile spread across my lips as only my favorite pajamas could do and I lifted my hands to touch my face when suddenly the light streaming in the window shown across my palm. Nothing. Wait, what? There was nothing happening to my skin when the light touched it. No sparkle. No shine. Just regular human skin! Panicking, I touched my face and patted my body as if there was some indicator that would tell me what was going on. How could this be, how could I be human? Oh my goodness, what was happening to me? I jumped out of bed and ran down the stairs and into the kitchen. My mother was standing with her back to me at the stove making breakfast and spun around, startled at my quick entrance. "Cadence, honey, what's wrong?" she asked, eyes wide.

My eyes were wide and my mouth was gaping open as I breathed heavily. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. My mother was standing in front of me. My real mother! Tears started to well up in my eyes and run down my face. What? That just couldn't be, I mean, what was going on? I couldn't cry real tears, not for five years, and now real tears were streaking my blushed face. "Mom?" I said questioningly as I ran to her and threw my arms around her.

"Cadence, what's wrong?" my mother asked. "Honey, you're kinda chocking me!"

"Oh," I started as I wiped my soaked cheeks. "I'm sorry mom!"

"What is going on with you honey? What time did you get in last night? Are you hung over, young lady, because you will be in some serious trouble!" She started on a typical rant, the same way she always did.

"What, Mom? What are you talking about? Where was I last night?"

"Oh my goodness, Cadence, you are hungover! What are you thinking when.. ."

"MOM!" I cut her off abruptly. "I don't drink alcohol!" She sighed in relief. "I don't understand, Mom!" My mother started to look at me with a peculiar expression and I decided to fake my way through this.

"Um, I'm sorry Mom. You're right, it was a late night! Um, what day is it today?" I asked probing.

"Cadence, it's Sunday! You know you went to the party last night, on Saturday?" she said with that peculiar expression again.

"Right!" I exclaimed. "But what's today's date?"

"It's September 30th," my mother said placating me.

A shocking realization had hit me! The party my mother was talking about was the party at Todd's house, the quarterback from school. The party where my best friend Sarah had betrayed my friendship, or I hers where she was concerned. It was the night that I had decided to walk the three miles to my house in the middle of the night and had been hit by a car. Or had I? According to what was going on, I was now safe and sound in my own house, not a scratch on me from what I could see. Something really strange was going on here and I had no idea what to make of it. Had everything I had went through with Tanya and the Cullen's been a dream? What about Christian? I excused myself from my mother and went straight back to my room. I paced frantically back and forth, running my hands through my hair nervously. I saw the strands for a moment as the tips ran through my fingers. My hair looked dull in comparison to my vampire self. Completely ordinary and normal with a brown undertone, not as vibrantly burgundy as I had remembered it. So what was it that I was remembering as having happened these past 5 years? A vivid dream? Or had something unexplainable happened to me that brought me here to this life now. There was that whole scene with Christian in the meadow that I would never be able to put into words.

So what was I supposed to do now? Go on with this life as if nothing had ever happened? My life with the Cullens felt so real, just as it did with Tanya, just as it was feeling at this moment. There was no way that it could have been a dream, it was 5 years. Right? I mean, hadn't it been 5 real years of my life? The details that I could remember from each and every event was astounding. I was beyond confused and had no idea what to think. Call! I should call someone! I remembered their phone numbers, I could call them and they would tell me what was going on and they would come and get me. Surely Edward would come and get me, or even Tanya. Tanya was close by!

I dialed Edward's cell number first. "Hello?" came a man's voice on the other end.

"Edward?" I exclaimed excitedly.

"I'm sorry ma'am, I think you have the wrong number. There is no Edward that lives here," he finished.

"What?" I choked out.

"Are you okay, ma'am?" The man started to sound concerned.

"Um," I paused. Was I okay? "Yes, I'm fine! Sorry for bothering you," I said hurriedly before hanging up.

The number wasn't Edward's number? Maybe he had changed it. I decided to call the house phone instead, but it was disconnected. I got similar results for every other number I tried. Tanya. Alice. Bella. They were all either disconnected or owned by someone else. Despair started to set in as I thought about the possibility that I was trapped and never would see any of them again. No, I decided. I pulled on a sweatshirt and grabbed my keys and headed out the door. I heard my mother calling behind me but I couldn't care right now. I had already come to terms with the idea that I would never see my mother again, and now I had lost an entire family that I had come to know and love in the Denali and Cullen clans. I couldn't let this happen.

I jumped in my little 1989 Jetta that my mom had bought me for my 16th birthday and drove the odd hour or so it took to get to Tanya's house. My little car sputtered and creaked just as I remembered, but I was now filled with shame and longed for my Mercedes. The drive seemed longer and longer as I worried more and more about what might have been waiting for me when I got there, but before long I was pulling into the long winding driveway. Their driveway alone took 5 minutes to scale, but it seemed like an eternity as my human heart beat harder and harder in my chest. Finally their house came in to view and I couldn't help but gasp! The house stood there and looked exactly how I had remembered it. It was a ranch style home with large windows and a stone chimney on the front side, but there was definitely something missing. There were no cars in the driveway, and the windows seemed unnaturally bare. Parking the car, I couldn't help but to feel a pang of dread in my heart. I stepped out and went up to the door, hesitantly grabbing the door knob. It turned easily and opened with a loud creek.

The inside was dark and dust covered, but there was not one piece of furniture in sight. I walked the halls that I so easily remembered filled with ancient artifacts and my eyes welled up with tears once more. My fingers stroked the walls as I made my way to my old bedroom. Like the rest of the house, it was empty. There were no signs that anyone had lived there for some time. Suddenly I was weighed down with sorrow and I fell to my knees in the middle of the room.

It was obvious that this was their house, how else would I have known exactly what it looked like and where it would be? There was some sort of truth to what I remembered, but how much of it was true? Suddenly I felt emotionally exhausted and couldn't bare to ask myself any more questions that I didn't have answers for. I just walked to my car and drove home.


	14. Chapter 14

**NOTE ::** I do not claim to be an amazing writer, just that I enjoy it. Please feel free to leave comments and reviews as long as they are kind and/or constructive! I do love to hear what you think!

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**Forever Mine - Chapter 14**

In the week that followed my strange awakening, I seriously considered if I had lost my mind. Every day was agonizing torture and I didn't know how much longer I would last without some real answers. I had theories, but in all honesty none of them made any sense. One theory was that I was knocked in the head and what I was experiencing now was a vivid coma dream, I mean how would I have known what someone experienced in a coma. This could very well be it. Perhaps I had been abducted by aliens and they somehow changed me, or they implanted those memories into me. That could have been possible, right? The only theory that seemed like it close to making sense was that my entire life as a vampire had been the vivid dream, to vivid for my liking. Of course that theory had so many holes in it that I couldn't accept it. I mean I remembered Tonya's house, even if it had been empty. How would I dream up a real place that I had never been to or seen in my human life? Those five years were so undeniably real to me that they really felt like five years had passed by. No dream that I knew of could do that.

Of course Monday had come too soon and my mother was not about to let me skip any number of classes. There was no Esme and Carlisle to understand what I was going through and give me all the time I needed to adjust. There also wasn't an Alice to tell me what was coming, or a Bella and Edward to relate to. The more I thought about them the more my heart ached. I missed my new family that had taken me in so wholly with open arms. I even missed Rosalie, even if she didn't speak to me much. Tears often streamed down my cheeks at odd moments when something reminded me of them. I didn't try to hide those tears much as I didn't care if people saw.

During that week I went to classes as usual and hid in my room after school. I even saw Sarah, but she didn't speak as she turned up her nose and walked past me. Her reactions made me almost glad that I had been hit by a car and dragged away to another life, until I realized that somehow that hadn't happened at all. By Friday, I was sure I had lost it. So often I would see something in my periphery and turn quickly to see a boy in the distance. Every time I swore it was Christian I was seeing. With bewildered excitement I would run to him, pushing past anyone in my way. There was nothing that would keep me from him as I so desperately wanted to see him and hold him. Somehow as I got closer he would get lost in the crowd or disappear all-together and I was left standing there in bewildered torment. By the end of the school day on Friday I had seen this so called Christian over a dozen times, and it never got any easier. Still I continued to chase the figure with all the might I could muster.

When I made it home I locked myself in my room and decided I would not come out all weekend except for the essentials. My mother started to worry about me and started asking me if something had happened at the party that I wasn't telling her about. Eventually I just told her the situation that happened between Sarah and me and that I didn't really want to be bothered. It wasn't a lie, something had happened with Sarah, but that wasn't what I was so sullen about. She bought it and left me alone after that.

Monday morning rolled around again and I got dressed in my normal WalMart jeans and an old hand-me-down sweater. Gone were the days of designer clothes and overnighted clothes shipments. I stood in front of the mirror and surveyed myself. My eyes didn't sparkle the way I remembered them as a vampire and my hair looked dull and lifeless as well. It lay sort of stringy and bone straight over my shoulders and there wasn't much more I could do but brush it. It was an ordinary brush with a pink plastic handle and plastic bristles. I looked down at the brush in my hand as tears started to flow again. I wanted my antique brush that Tonya had given me. It was a symbol of love and devotion, and I cherished it still. Looking back up at myself in the mirror I didn't quite remember my features looking so lifeless before I was supposedly turned, but after those memories I could honestly see how much prettier I may have appeared as a vampire. I was now able to see vampires through human eyes, and how the students at Forks saw me. I guess in a way I could understand now why they acted the way they did. I shook myself as I thought about the idea that none of what I was remembering may have been real.

It was time for another day of school and I picked up my backpack and made my way to my Jetta. I was also missing my Louis bag that I had used in place of a backpack at Forks. I knew it was a frivolous want, but it was something I had always wanted as a human, and now that I remembered having it it was almost as if it was stolen from me. That was right, my life had been stolen from me. Before I used to believe that my human life was taken from me, but now I had grown to love that life more than life itself, literally.

School in Alaska was the same as ever, and I had stopped paying attention in my classes. In a way I just didn't care anymore. My mind clashed with itself as it struggled to separate these two lives from each other. What I had or had not lived as a vampire and this life I was living now were at war with each other. The memories constantly whirled as the things I was experiencing now often triggered another so-called experience of the last 5 years. If they were not real then how was I remembering them so vividly?

Lunch came around and I stepped into the line for a tray. Surprisingly I found myself playing that same game I played at Forks, thinking about what I might grab, only to grab a salad with Italian dressing, an apple juice, and a brownie. I didn't know why I grabbed those items, because I did in fact eat them, but they felt familiar and brought me comfort. Walking through the cafeteria, I still chose to sit by a window and still stared out aimlessly as I ate. There was no explanation for the need to sit by the window, I wasn't keeping up any appearances or pretending to fit in. Again I supposed it was comfortable.

I sat down at the table I had started using the week before and I drizzled my dressing over my salad as I looked up and out the windows. The cafeteria was in the back of the school and the windows were about eye level when sitting and spanned the entire length of the wall. One could easily see the tree line right outside at the back of the property from anywhere in the cafeteria. As I glanced around outside as I often did at lunch time, my eyes suddenly stopped directly in front of me. There in the woods stood a figure. _Christian?_ I thought. He wore that same black hooded jacket that he wore in that vision-like moment I had of the meadow before waking up. The hood was pulled up over his head and I couldn't see his face, but I would never forget that arrogant stance he took. I dropped my fork and ran for the nearest door and out the back of the cafeteria. I didn't care how cold it was outside and that I wasn't wearing a jacket, I felt an intense need to catch this person. Christian's figure retreated into the woods seconds before I reached his spot and I bounded in after him. There was no sight of him anywhere but I didn't let that stop me. This was beginning to feel much like the many other times I thought I had seen him but he had vanished before me. I continued to run into the tree line and began to cry out his name. "Christian! Christian?" my voice rang out in desperation.

My eyes darted and I span around several times before I caught a glimpse of movement in the distance. I continued to run in toward it, following what I had seen, until I couldn't breathe anymore and I had to stop. This was not like my vampire running and I quickly realized I was not in the same shape as my vampire self. My chest heaved up and down as I tried desperately to breathe and the cold air burned my lungs. I turned and looked in every direction before turning back the way I came. There he stood a mere 20 feet away from me.

Stopping dead in my tracks and standing as still as I could while still breathing heavily, I probably would have stopped breathing if I had been able. My eyes stared wide in disbelief. Every other time I thought I had seen him, but this time he was actually in front of me. I didn't know what to say as shock took over my body. For the first time since I had woken up that morning I was in the presence of someone that related to that life, something tangible. I had tons of questions but I couldn't think of a single thing to say to him. "Christian?" I started. "Is that you?"

The figure slowly raised his arm and began to draw back his hood as his face continued to stare at the ground. His sandy blonde hair flopped forward ever so slightly in a shorter cut than I had remembered, but he didn't wear glasses. At that moment he started to lift his head and I gasped. This boy in fact was my Christian, but his eyes were different. Briefly I remembered Alice's vision and this entire moment seemed to align with that vivid memory. The fuzziness of the vision faded and it fit together with this scene like a missing puzzle piece into a larger picture. Christian's eyes were that dreamy golden color that the vegetarian vampires had, just as his eyes did in the vision. His skin was a pale version of what I remembered with no rosiness playing at his cheeks.

My mouth gaped open and I couldn't speak. I was sure my face looked devastated at that moment, because Christian's features started to reflect that as well. "Cady," he finally said in the most confident and charming voice I had ever heard escape his lips, and my heart skipped a beat at the sound.

Conflicting feelings overwhelmed me as my eyes narrowed on him and my throat felt tight. He had used the nickname that he had so often used during our study sessions in Forks. No one ever called me that except for him. I was now fighting back tears. What was happening? How had Christian become a vampire while I was not? How had we gotten here to Alaska, and why? Most importantly I wanted to know why and how all of this was happening, but I didn't know if that was something he had the answer to.

"What's going on?" I muttered finally. "How… how…" I couldn't finish.

"How am I a vampire and you're not?" Christian started. I'm sure he was no mind reader, but it wouldn't have been difficult for a vampire to know what I was trying to say. "Well, the simple answer is that you were never a vampire." He paused there as his eyes studied my face.

Listening to his words, my head began to shake in disbelief as my mind whirled. "No! No! I remember everything. Five years passed! I lived with Tonya and the Cullen's! They were my family, I loved them! I loved…" I trailed off as I looked up and in to Christian's golden eyes. How I wished they were still that beautiful shade of light green that I remembered. I wanted to tell him that I had loved him, but it hadn't felt right in this situation.

"I know, Cady! You remember those things because I made you see them. It's part of my ability! You understand so much more now that I showed you those things. Those feelings were real, ARE real! I can't fake that, the emotions that you felt. I just could never have made you understand otherwise," Christian trailed off and waited for a response.

_What?_ I thought. This wasn't happening to me, not now. "I don't understand," I choked out.

My heart started beating faster and my breath caught in my throat. Panic set in as Christian's words rang in my mind and realization set in. I never lived that life. I never lived with Tonya, or the Cullen's. Somehow he had made me see those things, but how? The idea that I really hadn't been a vampire at all shook me to my core. In a way I had felt that it was true from the beginning, but the memories had been so real that I wouldn't allow myself to believe it. I wanted nothing more than to run away from this place and never look back, to go back to Forks and see the Cullen's again and see Christian the way I remembered him. All of this was wrong, deadly wrong and I wanted nothing to do with it. Anger began to sweep over me as I realized more and more that Christian had done this to me. He played with my mind and gave me these memories and then took away my happiness.

"Why would you do this to me, Christian? Why?" I began to shout out.

"I will explain everything," Christian said calmly.

All I wanted was the truth!


	15. Chapter 15

**NOTE ::** I do not claim to be an amazing writer, just that I enjoy it. Please feel free to leave comments and reviews as long as they are kind and/or constructive! I do love to hear what you think!

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**Forever Mine - Chapter 15**

Christian stood before me ever so still, and the silence was deafening. It was a long while before he finally spoke again, and I didn't say a word. He must have been gathering his story, trying to find a way to explain it to me in a way that I would understand. After all, I was the human now and his vampire thoughts were much clearer, I knew that. I just wanted answers and nothing else mattered.

"So," he finally broke the growing silence. "I guess I better start with the 'How' of it all? My ability! Umm, it's kinda hard to just explain outright, but your experience inside the vision actually helps a great deal. You see, I can basically make you see things, obviously, but it's much more than that. Much like how human Christian couldn't be shut out by vampire Cadence, now no one can keep me out, human or vampire. Much like in the scenario of your vision my thoughts could be pushed on to you, so in a way it's kinda like that. I have the ability to create a world and experiences that build inside your mind like memories and become just as real and permanent as the real thing. It becomes much more involved however because it usually takes in so much more of who I am and who the other person is and combines them within the vision."

"What?" I broke in. I was becoming confused.

He shook his head slightly, thinking. "Ok, for instance, in your vision you were hit by a car and Tonya found you and turned you," he gestured toward me as I continued to stare at him. "Well that's actually how I was turned," he continued. "It wasn't on that road, but Tonya did find me one night after I had been hit and she turned me. That experience of mine melded with your experience of walking home to create a sincere vision. And to go even deeper, the ability that vampire Cadence had, the fact that you could read minds, that's probably because you have good intuition now and would probably be a real ability that you would have if you were one of us. In the same sense, if we had actually met that way, if I were human and you were vampire, my thoughts would probably still penetrate your defenses. Those are more examples of the melding between who we really are to our core and infusing them in to the vision."

Christian stopped to look at me as I continued to stare at him in disbelief before he continued. "I know it's a lot to take in. I just," he stopped himself as he looked down.

"Um, What about the Cullens? Are they even real?" I stammered.

"Yes, of course. Right now they are as you remember them. Bella was turned 5 years ago, when Renesmee was born, just as in your vision. I was turned exactly when you thought you were turned, shortly after Bella? Obviously the difference is the timing for you. I met the Cullens a year or two after I was turned. Tonya decided that she didn't want to live in their old house anymore after the incident with Irina and decided to live a more nomadic life again, and so I went to live in Forks. I never wanted to move around."

"That's why I remember where Tonya lives, and also why her house is empty," I interjected.

"Right," Christian agreed. "She would never sell it. Instead she saves it in case she wants to come back some day. I also stay there from time to time."

My mind started to feel a little more at ease knowing that the people I loved were still out there. I had begun to realize, however, that if this vision of mine was merely a vision fabricated by Christian then they did not know me in return. My eyes began to tear up once more as I stared wildly at Christian. "Why? Why would you do this to me? Me, of all people? It's not like we knew each other, how did you find me?"

Chritian's eyes darted around, searching for the right things to say once more. "Well, it was Alice," he said hesitantly.

"Alice!" I said matter of factly. Of course it would have been Alice! I didn't know why I hadn't thought of it before, but if it was anything then it had to have been Alice.

"Yeah, she had a vision of me with you, much like the piece of her vision you saw outside of Forks High. Of course in her actual vision she saw us actually together, I guess in this moment right here," he said looking around him. "She said that she could feel our love and that we would be together. I guess I always wanted a mate that would be mine forever, like how all of them have, so I set out to find you. From what Alice described I knew you were in Alaska of all places, but it was fate that you were from my hometown. I had finally caught up to you and followed you to that party that night. I guess you could say I was desperate. You now know that vampires are bound to keep our secret in fear of what the Volturi will do to us. I couldn't just come out and tell you who or what I was, the mere act of talking to you was risky. Heck, you probably would have just run in the other direction. I fell in love with you from the moment I laid my eyes on you, and I wanted you to understand that. You know how the love we feel changes us to our core, and it's absolutely pure. You understand how we would never wish this on anyone, but it can be beautiful if done for the right reasons. I would never have been able to make you understand that without the vision. Giving you this vision has helped me to really show you what it's like to be one of us, a vampire." Christian took a step forward and reached his hand out toward me.

Instinctively I stepped back. This action made Christian stop cold. I started to feel betrayed by him. How could he have done this to me? I guess in reality he didn't know me, nor I him, and he didn't owe me anything. But after everything I couldn't help but feel utter betrayal. "What about how I felt about you?" I started. "Were those fabrications of your ability? Did you make me feel those things for you in order to get me to come with you?"

"No, no, Cady! My ability doesn't work that way. Like I said, I can't fake the emotions that you felt. Those were completely real. All I can do is give you the situation, but how you react and how you feel is completely all your own. It's genuinely yours, and that's the truth. Please Cady! Please believe me! We've come so far," he cried out.

He could sense the hurt in my eyes and hear it in my voice. In a way those simple vampire cues were still a part of me too, because I could see the miniscule change in his eyes. The golden amber tone turned a slight shade darker and the inner corners turned down ever so slightly in a strange way. I couldn't quite pick up the response as my vampire self could have, but something was there.

"I feel," I started. How did I feel? I dug down deep within and tried to understand just how I felt. I did feel love for Christian, that much was true, but could I really believe what he was telling me? Something deep down inside told me that something wasn't right. I really wanted nothing more than to run to him and roll myself up in his arms. I wanted to lose myself in his green eyes, only they weren't green anymore and never would be again. What was I thinking? He was a vampire, and I was not. If there was something in that vision that had taught me anything it was that the vegetarian vampires didn't want this for humans. None of them would wish that life on us if we had another choice. Furthermore, those agonizing days of transformation were not something I wanted to relive. Granted I hadn't actually lived through them to begin with, but the memories Christian gave me of those days were real enough and I shuddered at the thought.

I didn't know how long I had stood there thinking, but Christian stood by patiently waiting for me to finish my sentence. I had guessed that the ending to that sentence was the most important thing to him. Looking up into his eyes I was finally ready to finish my statement. "I feel betrayed! I really did love you, but I guess you already knew that. Honestly, I don't know what to believe anymore. The entire situation has really messed with my head and I don't know if what you are telling me is true or not. I think," I stopped for a moment to catch my breath. "I think I need some time to process all of this. It's been hard enough trying to deal with the fact that I'm not a vampire anymore, but now all of this information is even more overwhelming."

I continued to look down. I just couldn't look Christian in the eyes. He didn't say anything and so I took that as my cue to exit. I quickly walked passed him and made my way toward the school as best as I could. Christian didn't try to stop me, nor did he try to come after me or anything. All I could do was make my way back to the school, grab my belongings and head out to my car. School was the last thing on my mind and I needed to think. I decided I would go to Tonya's house.

The view at Tonya's was breathtaking, even more so than I had remembered. The last time I burst through these doors and searched for my family I hadn't really looked at the surroundings. I stood on the huge back deck and looked out over the forests that covered the mountains spanning out over the land behind Tonya's house. I remembered standing here before and contemplating my move to Forks, only that was part of the vision Christian had given me, these false memories. In a way I had to think of it as a separate life, because it stood apart from my life yet was somehow still a part of me. The memories clashed with my real life and I had a hard time separating the two.

What Christian had done to me was starting to make me more and more upset. It didn't matter how much I thought I loved him, the betrayal stung deeper and deeper into my every being with every moment that passed. I was slowly beginning to feel like I was losing my mind. The two lives were at war within me and made it difficult to think straight. It only became harder and harder to keep straight. What was even more upsetting was trying to figure out his thought process behind his actions. What did he think would happen? Was I supposed to just choose to become a vampire with him and go on living the amazing vampire life I remembered?

What about my mother? It devastated me to leave her the first time, or in the vision rather, and I remembered watching her through our living room windows as she cried continuously. We had no other family, no one for her to fall back on. My mother got pregnant unexpectedly from a long-time boyfriend who didn't really treat her well to begin with. From what she told me, he left as soon as he found out she was pregnant and she never heard from him again. My mother was also an only child, and her parents passed unexpectedly in their 70's. It was hard on both of us. When I mysteriously disappeared, losing the last family member she had left only made her sorrow worse. The mere memory made me shudder in pain. I couldn't leave her, not this way, could I?

I still didn't quite know what Christian wanted from me to begin with. He said he wanted a partner, but could he really have fallen in love with me just from seeing me? I didn't remember it really being that way. I didn't know what to think about it all in the end. As I continued to mull over everything that was now going on in my life I heard the sliding glass door swoosh open and then closed. The footsteps were nearly inaudible if you didn't know what to listen for. I didn't even turn to look as I knew it was him, Christian.

"How did you know I was here?" I asked him without taking my eyes off of the scenery.

He walked up beside me slowly. "It wasn't hard to figure out where you would go. You wouldn't want your mom to know that you were skipping school and you seemed to find this place peaceful in the vision! I know I always did!"

I couldn't help but huff a little as I continued to stare out over the hills and valleys. It hit me that it was another one of his personal experiences that drew me to this place, not my own feelings. It left me wondering when his fabricated memories would stop influencing me. Feeling a little cold I realized that it would probably never end. "What is it that you want from me exactly, Christian?" I asked as I look up at him finally.

"Cady," he said softly. "I want you to join me, to become a vampire like me. We could start a brand new life together with better memories than the ones I gave you! We would be amazing together!" Christian finished.

Then I saw it again. His eyes had slightly darkened again. I didn't know why, but my gut started to tell me that something wasn't right. I learned a long time ago to listen to those feelings and I wasn't going to stop now. It took me a long human moment to finally tell him what I needed to say.

"Christian, I can't go with you!" I finally spat out.

"What?" he gasped in surprise.

"I just can't become a vampire, not again, well sorta… You know what I mean!" I spewed ineloquently. "I can't leave my mother behind, you know what that would do to her. It would kill her."

Christian's expression changed. He no longer looked like my sweet Christian and his features started to take on a slightly ominous appearance. I don't think I would have noticed it before, but I knew what to look for. He stood statue still for a moment too long and it started to worry me. "Christian? Are you ok?" I asked suspiciously.

"Your mother? This is about your mother? She's the only thing holding you back?" he asked with a flat tone in his voice.

"Well, yes. I guess that's the main thing," I said hesitantly. I knew there was a little more to it than that, but I didn't want to admit that to him now.

"Fine," Christian huffed. "I can change that!"

Christian's eyes narrowed on me. Stepping back slowly he started to make his way toward the door. I tried to question him, but before I could get a word out he turned on his heels and began running back through the house and out the front door with vampire speed.

"What?" I stammered.

My mind whirled. He could change that? Change what? What was he going to change? I had told him that my mother was the only thing that was holding me back from coming with him, and then he said he could change that. Was he going to take my mother out of the equation? What had I done? What was Christian doing? As quickly as I could manage I ran back to my car and tried desperately to drive back to my house to find my mother.


End file.
